Through the Rift
by FantasiaWandering
Summary: Due to a trans-dimensional accident, Leo got temporarily knocked out of Falling and into an alternate reality (the RP world on tumblr). But while he was there, what happened to the family he left behind? A collection of the "Meanwhile, over in Falling..." ficlets. They are not in canon with the rest of "Falling," but were fun to write anyway, and contain some canonical flashbacks.
1. Lost in Time and Space

_I've been enjoying the RP blogs on tumblr, and for a while, there was a serious shortage of Leos. I kind of got talked into joining up for a while, but because I can't do things by halves, I decided that if I was going to do it, it was going to have to be a story about Falling!Leo in an alternate reality. And then the rest of the family wanted to talk about how they were reacting to Leo being gone. So while this is out of canon with the rest of Falling, it turned out to be really fun, and I wanted to collect the ficlets there._

_Also, please don't panic. Just because I'm doing that doesn't mean I'm not working on Falling, too. The new chapter is coming soon, I promise. The research is just making it slow going._

* * *

All he wanted was to watch Space Heroes. Was that too much to ask? But he'd just sat down, suppressing a giggle of delight when he saw that it was "The Arena of Nebuzar" again, and was considering calling April out of Donnie's lab, when a rumble shook the floor beneath him and a cry of "…that's NOT supposed to happen!" echoed from the lab.

Leo was on his feet in an instant, bolting for the doorway. When he made it inside, he noticed two things right away. First, that the room was WAY more full of smoke than usual, and second, that there was a large glowing crack in the wall next to April.

Leo made his way over to her quickly as Donnie, coughing through the smoke, started attacking the large, humming machine in the middle of the room with a wrench.

"You okay?" he asked, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, waving him off. "But check this out!" she gestured at the glowing crack.

Leo took a closer look. As he neared the crack, he could see something through it. It looked… exactly like Donnie's lab.

"Whoa…" he breathed. Then he turned, hands on his hips. "Donatello, did you just rip a hole in the fabric of space-time?"

"No!" Donnie said. The machine behind him emitted a shower of sparks, and he cringed. "…maybe?"

Leo turned to look at the hole again, when the machine gave an ominous rumble and erupted in a cloud of smoke.

"_Donatello!_" came Splinter's angry shout from the room beyond. "_Why is our house exploding?_"

"Sorry, sensei!" Donnie called. But as he turned his back, the machine shook, and the entire side panel blasted clear, heading straight for April.

Leo's eyes widened. "April! Look out!" Without stopping to think, he leaped toward her, throwing her clear. In another second, the panel struck him, flinging him toward the crack. The world dissolved in a haze of glowing light, and then…

Nothing. He was sitting in the middle of Donnie's lab.

But there was no sign of Donnie and April.

"Umm…" he looked around uneasily. It looked like Donnie's lab, but something felt… different. "Hello?"

And then it hit him. He'd been thrown through the crack into a parallel reality.

He rose to his feet and brushed himself off. He wasn't really worried. Donnie would figure out a way to get him home. Eventually. Until then, he may as well see if there was anyone else here. There may even be another him.

He paused at the thought, and grinned. He might finally have someone who would truly understand his love of Space Heroes! Feeling much better, he left the room.


	2. Can you get him back?

_"YOU BLEW UP LEO?"_

"No, Raph, I didn't blow him up!" Donnie rubbed his head. "I just kinda blew him into an alternate reality."

Splinter, who had been silent, hand over his eyes, straightened and hit Donnie with a look that silenced him instantly. "Can you bring your brother home?"

"Oh, sure," said Donnie. Then he looked at the smouldering pile of wreckage. "It'll just take a while to get the parts I need again."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Raph asked.

"He should be," said Donnie. "I mean, there was a _lair_ on the other side of the rift. It only follows that there are other us-es. They may not be exactly like us, but they can't be too different." He looked at April. "Can they?"

"I don't know," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. "This is all new to me, too."

"Okay," said Raph. "So he may be lost, and out of his depth, but it's_Leo_. He'll figure it out. Right?"

"Just as long as he doesn't go on about Space Heroes," said Donnie. "I can't imagine there are two realities in which that show lasted as long as it did."

That got a grin out of Raph. "Okay. So what do we need to do to get him back?"

As Donnie and Raph discussed the problem with Splinter, April crossed the room to where Mikey sat slumped against the wall. She slid down next to him, putting an arm around him. "It'll be okay. We'll get him back."

Mikey looked at her, his eyes wide with worry. "I know. Donnie won't sleep until we do. But Leo's gonna be all lost and stuff." He sighed. "I hope that there's someone over there who can give him a hug."

April hugged Mikey in answer, and his arms slipped around her waist, holding her close. "If there's another you over there," April said, "I'm sure he'll be just fine."


	3. Taking Care of Business

"…and so I'm thinking that if we can align the positronic emittence in such a way that it creates a subharmonic pulse at the right amplitude—"

"Donnie," Raph said, "don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't shut up and work faster, I'm gonna hit something, and it won't be the machine this time."

Donnie glared at him "Dude. If you think you can build this thing any faster—"

"Guys," April said. "Not now, okay." She understood. They were all worried, and their tempers were fraying fast. But somebody had to keep them focused in the absence of Leo. And as much as they fought pretty much constantly, she couldn't help noticing that the brothers were looking out for each other, too.

"Whatever," Raph said, and looked back at Donnie. "So what are you waiting for?"

Donnie sighed. "April, we're gonna need more resistors, and an AC power supply."

"You got it," she said. "What kind?"

"Doesn't matter. As long as it's AC, I can make it work."

"Donnie," she said, laying a hand on his arm. "This is to get Leo back. I'm not scrounging in a junkyard. Tell me what kind will work best, and I'll go buy it."

His eyes widened. "Oh! In that case…" He hurried over to his laptop, minimizing the plans for what was now a temporal rift generator and opening up a webpage, typing frantically and hitting enter. "This one."

"Got it," she said, making a note on her Tphone. "Anything else?"

"Whatever we need for dinner," said Raph, looking pointedly at the youngest, who was sitting at Donnie's desk. He'd been there for a surprisingly long time, given that it was Mikey, drawing something on the back of one of Donnie's discarded note pages, with his tongue sticking out and a look of rapt concentration on his face. "Hey, Mikey! You need to cook something for when April gets back. We'll take a break then."

"No problemo," Mikey said without looking up.

"But—" Donnie began.

Raph cut him off. "No buts, braniac. And you're sleeping tonight if I have to clock you over the head to make you do it. You're not gonna help Leo any if you're so tired you put the thing together backwards."

Donnie looked like he was going to argue, but eventually he just sighed in resignation. "Fine." He picked up an old piece of rebar, and aligned it with a hole in the base of the machine. "Okay, this bit has got to go in here, but it's not going to want to fit, so you'll have to hit it really hard."

Raph grinned and hefted the sledgehammer. "_That_ I can do."

As the ringing of the hammer echoed through the lab, April leaned across the desk. "Watcha got there, Mikey?" He still didn't look up. She'd rarely seen him concentrate this long on anything.

"Did you ever watch that show with the kid and the dog who went to a new parallel world every week?"

"What, 'Skimmers?' Sure, who didn't."

Mikey grinned. "Well, I figure that's what Leo's doing now. So I'm drawing some of the adventures he's probably having."

April moved around to stand next to him so she could see his paper better, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Wow. That's _really_ good, Mikey," she said. She'd never seen him draw before. On the paper in front of her was a picture of Leo and Captain Ryan, and… she squinted. "Are they fighting ratroaches?"

"Yeah," Mikey said proudly, setting down his pencil. "D'you think he'll like it."

"Of course he will," she said.

Without another word, Mikey's arms snaked around her waist, pulling her in close. She rested her arm around his shoulder, dropping an absent kiss on the top of his head as she looked over the other drawings he'd made. "Anything special you want me to get for dinner."

"Nope," he said, squeezing her tighter. "Surprise me. I'll get creative."

"You're good at that," she said.

"I know."

She rubbed the top of his head gently. "I miss him too."

"…I know."

With one last squeeze, Mikey let her go, and she gathered what she needed to head topside. As she cleared the turnstiles and headed into the tunnels, she paused to look back at the lair, made all-too-empty with the absence of just one brother. "I hope you _are_ having amazing adventures," she whispered. "Just please be okay, Leo."

Sighing, she headed into the dark.


	4. Raph never liked that show

Grumbling, Raph lugged the melted pile of slag that had been the first rift generator across the lair. Donnie said he needed more space for the new one, and when Raph had demanded to know why _he_ had to be the one to drag all the heavy stuff around, he'd gotten a quip about "more brawn than brains" for his trouble. It had gone downhill from there, and would probably have come to blows if April hadn't ordered him out of there with that _look_ on her face that not even he dared to question.

As he passed by the pit, he spotted Mikey sitting in front of the TV, and abruptly, his anger had a new outlet.

"Hey! Who said you could just sit around here while the rest of us are working!" Abandoning the melted machine, he stormed toward his brother. "I swear, Mikey, if you don't—"

But then he was far enough to see his brother's face. He stopped, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had come.

"What? What is it?"

"That," Mikey said, pointing at the TV.

Raph raised a brow. "Isn't that the stupid show about the kid with the dog?"

"Skimmers," Mikey said, as though that were the saddest thing on the planet.

Raph sighed, placing a hand on his head. Sometimes, he just did _not_ get his brother.

"So? I thought you liked that show. You told April Leo was out having adventures like that kid."

"Well, yeah," Mikey said, "but then I remembered." He looked up at Raph, his blue eyes wide. "He never made it _home_, Raph."

_Oh. Oh, Mikey…_

Raph let out a breath, and sat on the bench next to his brother. "Leo's gonna come home, Mikey."

Mikey looked at his feet. "But how do you _know?_"

"Because, nimrod, Donnie's on the case. Have you _ever_ seen Donnie take on a science problem he couldn't beat into the dirt?" A soft shift of feet alerted him, and he glanced over Mikey's head to where Donnie stood, frozen, in the doorway to the lab. Raph gave him a sheepish smile and shrugged. Returning the look, Donnie folded his arms around himself and leaned against the doorframe.

"Well," Mikey said slowly, oblivious to the exchange. "No…"

"And I'll tell you something else," he said. "Don't forget, this is _Leo_. If he thought, even for a minute, that Donnie was having trouble bringing him back, he'd rip a new hole in space-time with his bare hands to get back to us."

"Hey…" Mikey said, the fear beginning to clear from his eyes. "Yeah! You're right."

"Of course I'm right," said Raph, slightly offended. Anything else he would have said was forestalled by the fact that Mikey had lunged at him, wrapping his arms around Raph's waist and squeezing until Raph could hardly breathe.

"Thanks, Raph!"

Raph tugged against the hold, his hands held awkwardly out to the sides, but Mikey wasn't budging. Eyes wide, he looked up at Donnie for help. Donnie just grinned, gesturing at Mikey with one hand. Rolling his eyes, Raph sighed, wrapping an arm around his baby brother.

"There, there," he said flatly, patting Mikey on the head with his other hand.

_Dammit Leo, you need to come home. Mikey needs you. We all need you….._Raph frowned, remembering that the last time Leo had hugged him, he'd just stood there and waited for him to let go. _Hell, I'd even hug you back right now. I…miss you._

He gave Mikey one last pat and placed his hands on Mikey's shoulders. "Come on. You can make yourself useful and help me get this piece of junk out of the way so Donine can get that stupid machine fixed."


	5. This does not bode well

_This happened round about the time things in the RP world started getting complicated and I needed a way to make my brain stop trying to figure out how everything worked._

* * *

Donnie looked at April, his face tense with anxiety. "Okay. Let's see if we can get a reading."

The machine was about half finished, but the temporal sensors were in need of calibrating before they did anything else. April held her breath as Donnie's finger hovered over the activation key.

Shutting his eyes, Donnie jabbed at the key.

A low whine filled the room. Donnie cracked an eye open, glancing warily at the screen. Then, both eyes opened wide, and a grin spread across his face. "Hey, April, I think it's working! I think it's actually—"

A bass rumble shook the floor beneath their feet, and a shower of sparks erupted from the machine. April let out a yelp as Donnie's ninja reflexes took over and he yanked her in front of him, shielding her from it with his shell.

_"Donnie!"_ Raph bellowed from the next room. _"If you are blowing anything else up, I swear, I will beat the smart out of you!"_

As the sparks faded, April pushed away from him and looked at the screen. She stared at it, her hands resting against Donnie's plastron as his arms went loose around her waist.

"Huh," he said.

"What does _that_ mean?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "It either means that this thing needs serious recalibration, or there are additional tears in reality on the other side of the rift where Leo is." He laughed. "But what are the odds of _that?_"


	6. WHY would you SAY that, Donnie?

_Itspired by party-dude-mikey's amazing ratroach art in progress, Leo ran into two ratroaches in RP-land and had to fight them off with partydudemikey and hotheadinred. Again, because of my stupid writer brain, I needed to rationalize it._

* * *

April paused in her work, wiping her greasy hands on her coveralls. "So what exactly would 'additional tears in the fabric of reality' mean for Leo?"

Donnie shut off his welding torch and looked up, pushing his goggles to the top of his head as he thought. "I dunno, it's hard to say. He might start running into multiple versions of us, or things we fought before might spontaneously manifest in his current reality. You know, weird stuff."

Raph swung a little too hard at the panel he was pounding into shape and glared at Donnie. "I swear, if Leo ends up eaten by a ratroach because of this—"

"Pssh, Leo can handle one ratroach," said Mikey from his seat at Donnie's desk.

"Yeah," Donnie agreed. "The only way he might run into trouble is if two ratroaches manifested; I have a theory that in the absence of a queen, two workers could fight and trigger a metamorphosis to a queen in the winner." He laughed. "But seriously, what are the odds of two ratroaches spontaneously popping into existence?"


	7. Mikey has secret psychic powers

_Mikey in RP land asked Leo where ratroaches come from. Leo responded with a quip about not throwing gargoyles at Kraang while engaged in covert surveillance. Simultaneously, this happened on Fantasia's blog. _

* * *

Mikey threw down the pencil he was using. Casting an aggrieved glance skyward, he shouted, "_that building was poorly constructed!" Then, as if nothing had happened, he went back to his drawing._

April exchanged a look with Raph and Donnie. "What the heck was _that_?"

"I have no idea," Donnie answered.

"Sometimes," said Raph, "I just do not_ get_ him."

Since Mikey showed no signs of further outbursts, they went back to their respective work on the rift generator. The sooner they got Leo back, the better. The were all starting to lose it a little.


	8. Fix it with gold

_Leo in RP land (he's at leaderinblue) got into a really sweet thread with ninjaturtledonnie with some serious brotherly bonding moments, and it made me think about the relationship that Leo had with Donnie. This was the result. This is probably going to become an ongoing theme in Falling. Don't be surprised if this flashback shows up again in-canon._

* * *

Donnie set down the soldering iron carefully, and rubbed his eyes. Raph had threatened to nerve block him the night before to get him to sleep, and Donnie had reluctantly complied — Raph wasn't nearly as good at nerve blocks as Leo, and the result was extremely uncomfortable and resulted in a lot of uncontrollable twitching for a while afterward, which Donnie had really wanted to avoid. But he hadn't been able to sleep for long, rising well before the others, his brain yelling too loud to let him sleep. So it had been another really long day.

He glanced at the door to the lab. He could see April and Mikey in the room beyond, asleep on the bench in the pit. April lay sprawled across Mikey as he held her like a teddy bear, while an episode of 'Skimmers' still played, forgotten, on the TV.

Splinter checked in on Donnie regularly, but Donnie was pretty sure that their _sensei_ was spending most of his time meditating, trying to feel whether Leo was still okay. And Raph was somewhere else, probably dealing with his frustrations in a way that involved hitting something. Sighing, Donnie looked down at the circuit board again. This was important, and most of his attention was focused on it, but there was still a part of his mind that was busy sorting through memories and throwing them at him at the most inopportune moments.

* * *

_Donnie knelt next to the shattered remains of the toy helicopter, trying not to cry too hard. He didn't want the others to hear. His fingers brushed over the cracked circuit board that had controlled it, the toy's gears and wires spilling out from the broken frame like a fatal wound. He had been _so _excited when Splinter had found the toy at the dump and brought it home, a gift for their eleventh mutation day. It had taken just a small rejigging of the contacts in the battery casing to get it to work again. But this…_

_"Donnie?"_

_He jumped, swiping hastily at his eyes. Of course it was _him_. "Go away, Leo."_

_Leo didn't listen. He never listened. Instead, he knelt next to Donnie, looking down at the shattered toy. "What happened?"_

_Donnie looked away, but he knew there was no point. Leo wouldn't let him get away with refusing to answer. "I-I was thinking about something else. How to fix the static on the TV, and the new tools _sensei_ found, and that textbook…" he gestured at the mess in front of him. "I crashed it."_

_"Mmm-hmm," Leo said, and looked at him. "But why are you crying?"_

_Donnie glared at him. "I'm _not_ crying!" he protested, despite the tears streaming down his face. Leo just blinked at him, and Donnie gestured angrily at the shattered parts. "It's _broken_, Leo!"_

_Leo nodded. "Yeah. But that's a silly thing to cry over. If it's broken, then fix it. You did it once."_

_"That was just a loose battery contact," Donnie said. "This—this is hard!"_

_He broke off as Leo placed his hands on Donnie's shoulders, looking straight into his eyes. "You can fix it, Donnie. You can fix anything."_

_Donnie blinked, his eyes wide. He hated it when Leo did this. There was so much certainty, so much conviction in Leo, that Donnie couldn't _not_ believe him. It was a Leo thing._

Stupid Leo.

_Sniffing, Donnie tore his gaze away and looked down at the parts. "You really think so?"_

_"Pssh. Dummy." Leo gathered up the helicopter parts in one hand, tucking them against his side as he pulled Donnie up with the other. "When am I wrong?"_

_Donnie stood, toying with the control box. "Well…I _did_ have some ideas for some improvements to the design…"_

_Leo picked up the ends of Donnie's mask and used them to dry Donnie's face. "Come on, genius," he said, grinning. "I wanna hear all about them."_

_Leo placed his arm around Donnie's shoulders, and Donnie leaned into him as Leo led him back to the lair, gesturing as he described his ideas about how to make the helicopter faster, and stronger, and laughing as Leo suggested something that could carry water balloons to drop on Raph. And by the time they reached the lair, Donnie had forgotten why he had been crying in the first place. Of _course_ he could fix this. He could fix anything…_

* * *

The circuit panel in front of him blurred, and Donnie wiped his eyes angrily. He started at a touch on his shoulder, and he looked up to find Raph staring down at him, uncharacteristic concern in his brother's green eyes.

"I can_ fix_ this," Donnie said harshly. "I can fix _anything_."

Raph just looked at him another moment before patting him on the head. "I know you can," he said.

Raph reached out with a foot and kicked the other chair in the lab over to where Donnie sat. Turning it backward, he dropped down into it, folding his arms across the back of the chair and resting his chin on them. Unable to offer the words of support that Leo was so good at, Raph just made sure that Donnie wasn't alone as he resumed work on the machine that _would_ bring their brother home.


	9. Fix it Leo

_You guys asked for this, so here it is. _

_I keep getting messages from people wanting to know what's going on with Leo while the Falling family is fussing. And it's hard to show it, because of the nature of RP-ing on tumblr, and the fact that other people are writing content too. But Leo had three pretty major threads with ninjaturtledonnie, and I have his permission to collect and publish them here._

_Backstory: at this point in time, the Rift family's Leo (ichibanturtle) was missing (chanceofclouds, who plays ichibanturtle, had IRL stuff to do). Marceline from Adventure Time is kind of an adopted sister to April in this reality, and she'd been kidnapped and was being tortured by the Kraang, and thanks to a Magic Anon (people can post anonymous magical commands), April was feeling everything Marceline felt._

_So this is when Leo walked in on Donnie._

_Important things of note: I've cleaned up some stuff, but this is pretty much a live RP thread. The Leo stuff was written by me, and the Donnie stuff by ninjaturtledonnie. Nothing was planned; this is spontaneous, and interactions are sometimes spread days apart, and sometimes occurring in real-time, which is why there's some repetition, it's not polished, and characters are sometimes answering about three paragraphs worth of dialogue in one go. Up until this point, Leo and Donnie had been fairly awkward with each other, and Donnie had made it clear that the Rift family wasn't nearly as huggy as the Falling!gang. This was the start of the adorable bonding that just kind of happened between Falling!Leo and Rift!Donnie, as well as the kintsukuroi theme between those two. To lessen confusion regarding the viewpoint characters, I've added a line each time ninjaturtledonnie and I switched off the narrative._

_Oh, yeah, and there are multiple versions of each character running around over in the rift. And Donnie and April are dating. Just go with it._

_There's also some naughty language in this one, kids. You've been warned._

_(Also, we wrote this before the Karai episode aired. Make of that what you will)_

* * *

_"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."_

Donatello continued to bang his head into his desk. It was all his fault. Marceline had lost an arm, and it was his fault.

_"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."_

* * *

"Whoa!" Leo had been attracted by the noise, familiar enough with his own Donnie to know that that kind of thumping from the lab never heralded anything good. He was across the room in two seconds, slipping his hand in between Donnie's head and the desk.

"Easy there, Donnie. We _like_ that brain of yours. Let's keep it in your head, okay?"

* * *

Donnie looked up at the alternate of his brother, and let out a sigh. Of course Leo would be able to get him to talk, even if it wasn't his own Leo.

"It's all my fault, Leo," he began, cupping his face in his hands while propping his arms on the desk. "Marceline has lost an arm, and it's all because I stopped them from going out already. I just thought we needed a plan…"

* * *

"She _what?_" An expression of horror crossed Leo's face. "They— I— no _wonder_ April's hand hurt so much." He shook himself, focusing back on the other Donnie. He knew that expression, all right. That was classic "leader questions his decisions." He'd seen it in the mirror enough times.

He perched himself on an empty corner of the desk. "So let me get this straight. You're beating your head blue because you thought it would be better to come up with a plan than to wade blindly into what is obviously a trap in an incredibly heavily-armed Kraang stronghold?"

* * *

"She lost a damn arm, Leo. It would have been better if I'd have listened to April and Raph, didn't drag my feet and got her out already. Now she's missing an arm, and everyone is going to blame me for everything that's happened."

* * *

"And what more would she have lost if you three had gone in blind and gotten yourselves killed?"

Leo sighed. "Okay. Remember when Shredder was planning to hijack that tanker and April got taken by Dogpound?" He paused. "That _did_ happen here, right?"

* * *

"Yeah, that happened here. What's your point?"

* * *

Leo frowned at him. "My point is that I spent a long time blaming myself for it, and for what might have happened if we hadn't gotten her back — which was thanks to you and that brain of yours, by the way. And when I started losing sleep over it, Splinter noticed, and he told me something. Something important."

He closed his eyes, trying to remember exactly what Splinter had said. "When evil things happen, the only ones who deserve the blame are those who have done that evil."

He opened his eyes again, and regarded his little brother's twin. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Donnie, you might get flak from the others. It's what people do when they're hurting and they need to make sense of the pain — especially if they're Raph — but even if that happens, I want you to remember this." He leaned forward, placing his hands on Donnie's shoulders so that he could see how earnest Leo was. "The _only_ ones who deserve blame right now are the Kraang. Blaming yourself is only going to hurt you, and the others need you strong right now."

He let Donnie go and leaned back. "And I know it may not be worth much, what with me not actually being your real brother and all, but I don't blame you, either. I would never blame you for doing everything you could to keep your family safe."

* * *

Donnie put his head back on the desk, letting out a sigh. "It means a lot to hear you say that Leo," he replied, "but April feels like she just lost an arm, and I'm always going to be taking the blame for this whether I want to or not."

"I appreciate you trying to help, Leo… and you're every bit my Leo as any other. Just a bit different."

* * *

Leo patted Donnie's head gently. "Welcome to being the leader, bro. You're gonna screw up, and it's never not gonna suck." He kept his voice light, taking the sting out of the words. "I know how you feel. Believe me. That whole ratroach thing? The entire family was hurt, and our April nearly lost her hand for real, and the only reason any of us got out alive at all is because April's dad used to accidentally set their apartment on fire…. nevermind. Long story."

He looked down at his exhausted little brother. "My point is, I've been there, Donnie. I know how it feels. You're gonna carry it with you, and you're gonna learn from it the hard way, but you can't let it break you. You can't let it slow you down. Your family needs you, and as leader, you have to be the strongest you can for them. And as bad as it is, you made the right choice, Donnie."

He smiled. "And…thanks. What you said? That means a lot to me, too." It really did. He missed his brothers, and after everything that had just happened with this world's April, he desperately wanted to know if his was okay. But for Donnie to say what he just had… he could at least feel like he was part of a family again.

And there was nothing he wouldn't do for his family.

* * *

Donnie let out another sigh, but then looked up at Leo. "It did? It's nothing… you're Leo, you're _my _Leo, even if it is only to an extent. You've done a lot for me in the day or two that you've been here. I appreciate that. You're still Leo. You're still my brother. And you still mean the world to me."

He lowered his head. "I had no idea that being the leader made… all of this so heavy."

* * *

"Donnie, every time we go out, it's on me to make sure that all four of us — five, if we've got April — come home safe. You think that doesn't keep me up at nights?" He punched his brother lightly in the arm, but his voice was teasing. He was kind of glad this Donnie didn't know how much leadership weighed on Leo sometimes — it was assurance that his efforts to keep it from his own brothers was probably working.

"Of _course_ it's heavy. I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked Splinter if I could be leader. But if it means that you guys are safe, and that you don't have to worry about all this?" He shrugged. "I'd pick up that burden again in a heartbeat."

As Donnie professed that Leo was still his brother, he felt his heart clench within him. He'd needed to hear that so badly. Leo smiled. "If I mean that much to you, will you _please_ listen to me and stop beating yourself up? You _needed_ a plan, Donnie. You've seen what happens when Raph goes off without one." He frowned. "Or have you? I'm still not sure. Anyway." Shaking his head, he pulled himself back on track.

"I've been in the Captain's chair enough to know that once you've got a plan worked out, bringing anyone else in on it can risk the whole thing, and I know how solid your plans are. I'm not asking to get involved, as much as I'd really love to put my katana through some Kraang right now." He placed a hand on Donnie's. "But if there's anything you can think of… anything I can do here… I'm here for you. Always."

He looked around awkwardly. "Umm… this is where me and my Donnie would hug. But, you know, if you guys don't do that kind of thing, that's cool."

* * *

Donnie lifted up his head, "I'm sorry Leo… I just can't get over the fact that both Marceline and April are feeling the same pain. I know you're right, and I'll try to make myself believe it, but… you know me."

He gave Leo a smile and a teasing punch back, "We don't hug a lot here, but I sometimes wish we did, so if you want to, then you know, I'm here." He opened up his arms, the smile still playing on his face, "I just need my older brother here, that's all. You're doing a great job of that."

* * *

"Jeez, Donnie, for someone so smart, sometimes you can be a real dummy." Leo stepped into Donnie's open arms, enfolding his brother in the best hug he knew how to give, putting every ounce of strength, and support, and love he had into it. "Of course I'm right. I know you can out-stubborn a mule, but you need to believe in yourself right now as much as I believe in you." He smiled against Donnie's shoulder. "And hey, if there's one thing I know how to do really well, it's how to be your _aniki_."

* * *

"Two Leo's and three Raph's have said that so far. It's a new record," Donnie joked, his arms wrapping tightly around the other turtle. He put his chin on Leo's shoulder, and gave a small sigh of relief. "I don't tell you this enough, and technically I have told _you_ at all, but I love you, Leo. I really love you."

* * *

Leo's breath hitched. It was strange, how hearing that could at once make him want to hold on to this Donnie and never let go, while at the same time making him miss his own Donnie so much it actually hurt. He held on tighter, and closed his eyes.

"I love you too, Donnie."

And in that moment, he was pretty sure he was saying it to both of them.

* * *

Donnie closed his own eyes and tightened his grip on the blue-banded turtle. He knew no matter how hard he gripped, Leo either a) wouldn't be bothered by it, or b) wouldn't make any mention, so he squeezed his affections into the alternate. It felt good to get these emotions out, really good.

"I need to say that more," he replied.

* * *

Leo grinned despite himself. "And _this_, my friend, is why we hug a lot."

And if he had chased away the edge of despair that had been in Donnie's eyes when he'd first entered the room, he'd keep doing it. As many times as Donnie needed until his own Leo returned.

But it would be a few moments longer before he could ease back to see for sure. Because selfishly, he needed the comfort of his brother's arms as much as Donnie had needed his. And if he stole just a few moments more for himself, he didn't think Donnie would mind.

* * *

And Donnie didn't mind at all. He could and would keep the contact with his older brother as long it was needed. "You guys all seem so close over there… I'm jealous, to be honest."

* * *

Memories flashed in rapid succession through Leo's mind. Memories of the things he'd come to realize that the family on this side of the rift hadn't done. The night Raph had wrenched his knee for the third time, and Leo and Mikey had ended up spending half the night with April, laughing until they could barely breathe. The New Years Eve on the rooftops, when Donnie had gotten his midnight kiss from some unexpected sources, and Leo and April had come to an understanding about their family and her place in it. And, stronger than any of the others, the giddy aftermath of that first night together underground, when Leo had first realized that he couldn't think of his family anymore without April being a part of it.

"We've been through a lot," he said. Then, he caught himself. _He_ was supposed to be helping _Donnie_ here. He pulled back just enough that he could smile at his brother. "And hey, if we're practically the same on either side of the rift, why _can't_ you guys be that close?" He gave him a teasing grin. "Just don't let Raph kiss you. It won't end well."

* * *

"What did you say?" Donnie replied, pulling back with a look of confusion on his face. "Raph kissed me? What happened? Oh my God."

* * *

"It's a long story," Leo said. "You have to watch what you say around Raph sometimes. He tends to take things literally." He smiled at the memory, and at how it had eventually ended.

_Raph and Mikey had finally stopped tormenting Donnie and the three of them sat together, Donnie in the centre, Raph's elbow resting on one of Donnie's shoulders as Mikey leaned his back against Donnie's other side. Their faces upturned, they stared at the sky as the fireworks painted them in a rainbow of coloured light._

"Actually," Leo admitted, "maybe it didn't turn out so bad after all." He grinned at Donnie. "And hey, you're doing pretty well with me. I'd say you've totally got the hugging gene in you." He folded his arms. "If you need practice, your best bet is to start with Mikey."

* * *

"This is a story that I kind of want to know, though. I mean, I kissed my older brother in your universe. How did that even… happen? Raph would sooner die," he commented, a chuckle rising up from within him.

"I don't know if my Mikey is totally up for it, though. He's kind of… in love with this human he met."

* * *

"Oh, no, he kissed you. And Mikey… wait, what?" Mikey was in_ love_? With a_human_? Okay, _that_ was different. And he was going to get that story out of one of them eventually. But even through his shock, he hadn't missed the fact that Donnie had actually laughed, which was a _long_ way from where he'd been when Leo had found him.

"I think, when this is over, we need to have a serious talk. My Mikey is only in love with two things: Pizza, and possibly Leatherhead, in a big scary puppy kind of way." He crossed his arms. "But this was kind of about you, before I went and got all mushy. Do I have to follow you around with a pillow, or can I trust you to stop hitting your head against stuff now?"

* * *

Donnie shrugged, "I think I'll be alright, but I can't say for sure. You might have to hang around and keep my company. Is that okay with you?" He smiled at Leo, giving him a small nudge on his side. "If not, it's fine. You could go watch Space Heroes or something."

* * *

"Hmm, let me think," said Leo, pretending to mull it over. "Watch the show I've seen so much that I've got every episode memorized, or hang out with my little brother and make sure that he's okay. That's a tough one." Grinning, he punched Donnie lightly in the shoulder. "Come on, Donnie. I love Space Heroes, but I love you more."

* * *

Donnie grinned and gave Leo a light shove before hugging the blue-banded turtle once again. "Thanks for cheering me up, Leo… I appreciate it," he said, resting his chin on Leo's shoulder and letting out a content sigh.

* * *

Leo held his brother close, laughing gently. "Hey look, you're even getting the hang of the hugging thing." He closed his eyes. "And I'm glad I could help. It's good to feel useful again." He tightened his hold a little. "Outside of all of this, you know you can come to me with anything, right? And I'm pretty sure I speak for the other me, too."

* * *

"How could you not feel useful, Leo?" he asked, his eyes opening with a snap. "You're probably the most useful out of the four of us." Donnie tightened his hold in response, "I know I can come to you for whatever."

* * *

Leo gave a little snort. "In ordinary circumstances, maybe. But here, I fall into your laps just as you guys are in the middle of this stuff with April and her sister, and I'm just… kind of … _here_." He shrugged as much as he could given how hard he and Donnie were clinging to each other. "And I get why I can't help, I really do, but you don't know how much it _kills_ me to sit here and do nothing when you guys go to save her." He let out a rueful laugh. "I guess the drawback of being as close as we are in my reality is that I get really antsy when I can't see every member of my family to know for myself that they're okay. Thinking of you guys going out there without me…" he shuddered.

"So, if I can help you now, and make sure you're all okay, and strong, and ready for the fight… it's like I'm sending a part of me with you to watch your back. And it makes me feel like I'm actually helping the cause instead of just being the guy hanging around the lair watching Space Heroes. If that doesn't sound too weird."

He smiled "And I'm really glad to hear that. Sometimes it seems like it's always me and Raph, or me and Mikey. It feels like you and me don't really talk that much anymore. Not like when we were kids. You used to bounce your ideas off me all the time, and then you just kind of… stopped. I worry about that, sometimes."

* * *

"If I can be honest with you about the ideas part, I stopped because…" he paused, looking around the room anxiously. "I stopped because I was worried that you had just stopped caring. I was worried that you were placating me, just making it seem like you cared, and I really didn't want you to have to put up with it if you didn't want to."

"I was just worried that you were getting annoyed with my constant talking and plotting, and that eventually you'd just snap and freak out on me. That's why I stopped bringing up all of my plans until they were already finished."

* * *

That was enough to shock Leo into taking a step back. He stared up at Donnie, his eyes wide with alarm. "Donnie," he breathed. "Oh, man, I thought you stopped because you'd gotten so smart that you thought I was too dumb to understand anymore. If I'd known that _that'_s what you thought…"

Leo took Donnie's arms and gave him a little shake. "Donatello, you have the most amazing brain on the planet. Half the stuff you come up with makes _Space Heroes _seem dull by comparison. And yeah, sometimes you could pick your moments better." He grinned ruefully. "When I'm about ten minutes away from finally achieving the second state of meditation that I'd been working on with Splinter for months was probably not the best time to jump on me and drag me off to show me the plans for the automated floor cleaner you'd invented…"

He rested his hand on Donnie's shoulder. "But I get that you were just excited. When you get excited about stuff, you want _everybody_ to be as excited as you are. I mean, I _really_ get it. I may not be able to follow your flowcharts all the time, but if there's one thing on this world that I truly understand, it's my brothers."

* * *

"It wasn't that I didn't think you'd understand, it's that I just thought you had stopped caring, and you were only trying to placate me. I knew you would understand. You're smart. We both know you are. But it's just I thought that eventually you had just stopped caring like Mikey and Raph both did. That's what drove me to close the doors to my lab."

He sucked in a shaky breath. The secret of his secretiveness was out for him to hear, something that not even April, his girlfriend, knew. His grip on Leo slipped slightly, "I just thought you'd given up on caring about them."

* * *

"Oh, Donnie, no. It was never that." Leo sighed. "And I don't think it's that Raph and Mikey don't _care,_ it's just…" He faltered. He understood his brothers on a level that was really hard to put into words. "Mikey sees the world with no filters; everything comes at him with equal intensity, so he _can't_ focus on anything for long. That's not his fault or yours, it's just how he's wired. And you're many things, Donnie, but concise isn't one of them. So when you're just getting started, the next thing has already come along and grabbed Mikey's attention. That's why his part in my plans can usually be reduced to five words or less.

"And Raph…" Leo laughed a little. "He'd never admit it, but he gets really hurt and upset whenever anything makes him feel vulnerable, and when you really get caught up in your explanations and your words get big and he can't understand you? He feels stupid and inferior, so he lashes out. And if he doesn't listen in the first place, it's because that way he _can't_ feel dumb and won't get hurt."

He looked up earnestly into Donnie's face. "But none of that's _you_." He felt Donnie's hold slipping, but he wasn't going to lose him now. Taking a page from the book of Mikey, he launched himself at his little brother, tackling him to the ground and wrapping his arms around him so tightly it was going to take a crowbar to pry him off. "I will never, _ever_ stop caring about you or your ideas, Donnie. They're your strength. They're what make you who you are. And we'd all be less without them."

He let out a grunt of frustration. "Seriously Donnie, the flowchart? The go-karts? I r_ead your blueprints,_ for crying out loud! Why do you think I keep leading the others in here and _asking what you're up to_?"

He didn't think it was possible to hold Donnie even tighter, but he managed it as he let his head fall against Donnie's shoulder and mumbled, "you big dummy."

* * *

"I know that but… I dunno what to say. I just felt like no one ever really cared about me or my inventions anymore. Mikey at least tried to sound interested sometimes, and Raph just… shot each of them down. It kinda hurt, so I just… stopped mentioning them until I had managed to actually finish one. Did you see Metalhead in your universe? You saw what happened, right? He was taken over by the Kraang. I don't think I'll ever be hearing the end of that."

His grip had loosened even more before he gave a loud grunt, crashing onto the floor on his shell. He looked into Leo's eyes, his own showing an air of obvious sadness. "You guys all thought the flowchart was creepy. I can't even look at the thing anymore without hating myself. My blueprints aren't anything special either, Leo."

Upon hearing the mumbled words, his wrapped his arms around Leo again, though not as tight as before, "You really believe in all of that. In me. Don't you…?" He could feel a tear well up in the corner of his eye, and tried to blink it back quickly. He really didn't want to cry. Not now.

* * *

_Oh, man, Leo, what kind of leader are you if your own brother doesn't think you believe in him?_ He racked his brain, trying to think of something, anything, that he could say to convince Donnie that he meant what he said. To put into words the fact that Leo believed in Donnie _so _absolutely that he was able to give his all to this reality's Donnie and April, without worrying about his own predicament, because of his unshakeable faith that his own Donnie was going to bring him home again. There was never any doubt in him._ Never._ Because Donnie was Donnie. He'd taught himself particle physics at the age of nine from a waterlogged textbook fished out of the sewer because he simply refused to believe that there was _anything_ his brain couldn't do.

Even when his plans backfired, Donnie never gave up, learning from his mistakes, refining them until they worked when most people would have given up long before. And everything he did, all the wonders he made, he did with the debris that the rest of the world had cast away.

Donnie was practically the definition of the word _dauntless_, as far as Leo was concerned.

Well, maybe there was one thing Leo could say that would show him. Because Donnie, more than any of the others except maybe Raph, had always been able to tell when Leo was lying and when he was telling the truth. And Leo had one truth left in him that he hadn't used yet. "Yes," he said, his face still pressed against Donnie's shoulder.

"You're more my hero than Captain Ryan will ever be."

* * *

Donnie couldn't help himself. The tears had started to spill over and drip down his cheeks, it a matter of seconds Donnie would become a perpetual waterfall, and for once, he didn't mind it.

That had to be without a doubt one of the sweetest (albeit dorkiest) things anyone had ever said to him, and Leo had to have known it would be, or else he wouldn't have said it. Or would he? This Leo was a lot different than his own, after all.

He gripped onto Leo just as tight as he had been before and started to sob into his shoulder, all of the pent up emotions that he made a point to keep from discussing rushing out of his body like the water out of a dam with a crack, which was exactly what his eyes were like right then.

He wanted to get away from Leo, he wanted to move and not cry on his older brother, but Leo's arms were tight around him, and although he didn't know it himself, those arms were exactly what he needed.

* * *

His face pressed against Donnie as it was, Leo missed the moment that Donnie's tears began, but when Donnie's arms locked around him and he began to sob into Leo's shoulder, an odd mix of relief and sorrow rushed through him, and his own tears began to fall, quieter and more controlled than Donnie's wracking sobs, but no less heartfelt.

As they had been on April earlier, all his senses were now focused on Donnie, so he felt the moment that Donnie tensed, as though about to pull away. In answer, he tightened his hold even further. _Oh, no. You're not getting away now, Donnie._

Donnie needed this. The hurt and self-doubt that had riddled him were toxic, building up like an infection, but his own Donnie had learned with their April that tears had the power to heal. When he came out the other side, this Donnie would be stronger for it. And Leo had no intention of letting go until that happened. Because if you were going to go through that kind of storm, you needed an anchor to hold you true to your course.

"It's okay, _otouto_," Leo whispered, his voice only wavering a little. "I'm with you."

* * *

Donnie felt Leo tense, and immediately went back to gripping his brother tightly as he had before. He continued his sobbing, broken apart words slipping from his mouth as he did.

"I-I love you so much Leo, I couldn't ask for a better _aniki,_" he whispered, sobs separating his words. Donnie didn't usually use Japanese, but he felt like the occasion called for the use of their second language.

He took in a shaky breath, trying to quiet his sobs, and tightened his grip upon Leo even more, granted that being only a small bit, but the closer he held Leo to him, the better.

* * *

Despite the tears, Leo couldn't help smiling. There'd been a wall around this Donatello when he'd gotten here, but right now, there was no trace of it. It wouldn't have fit anyway; Donnie held him so tightly now that their shells were practically fused together.

"I love you, too, Donnie," Leo said. "Always have. Always will. No matter what."

* * *

Donnie continued to cry, opting out of speaking with his brother. He needed the closeness that they were sharing right now, he needed the love and the declaration of it, something that he hadn't gotten from his Leo for a long time.

* * *

Sometimes, Leo mused, the cleverest of his brothers needed words to function as much as he needed air or water. But there were other times when words just weren't enough.

Leo wriggled around ever so slightly into a more comfortable position for both of them — his leg had twisted awkwardly beneath him when he'd taken Donnie down, and Donnie couldn't have been much better off. At the same time, he shifted his grip on his brother so that he could keep the contact they already shared, and let his hold on Donnie speak for him

_We could stay here all night now if we had to. There's no hurry. Take as long as you need, little brother. Your big brother's here, and I'm not going anywhere. I've got you, you're safe, and I love you._

* * *

Donnie wrapped his legs around Leo's waist, tightening them just like his arms were. He could feel Leo's reassurances in the grip that he held, and he gave a small sniffle. His sobs had quieted, but the tears were still coming in full force. It didn't look like he was going to stop for a while.

* * *

Donnie was still crying, but the terrible sobs that had torn through him had eased, and Leo let out a small sigh of relief. Experience had told him that that was the first sign that the healing had begun.

For the longest time, he just held Donnie, letting his brother draw on his strength, his confidence, and his unshakeable belief in Donatello. He wasn't sure how long they sat there; it could have been half an hour, or three hours, or the entire night. Time had always been funny for him when an injured brother was involved. Certainly long enough for Leo's legs to start falling asleep. But he never once eased his grip, or gave any indication of it to Donnie. And he wouldn't. A little discomfort for Donnie's sake was nothing

It was only when he felt the iron tension in Donnie's muscles finally beginning to relax that Leo dared to break the silence. He raised his head from Donnie's shoulder, replacing it with his hand so that Donnie remained firmly locked to him, a wordless assurance from their childhood that it didn't mean he wanted Donnie to go anywhere, or even respond if he didn't feel like it. Filling his voice with as much warmth and affection as he had in him, Leo said gently, "so I guess this means you believe me."

* * *

Donnie sniffed and gave Leo a small nod, "Yeah, I-I believe you Leo. I really do believe you." He moved one arm in order to wipe the tears from his eye, then immediately wrapped it around the older turtle once again.

Something felt a lot better inside of him, because not only had he finally gotten something major off of his chest, he'd told a Leo that wouldn't judge him. He had never been this close with any of his brothers before, and might not ever be.

He really didn't want this Leo to go.

* * *

Leo laughed gently. "_Finally_." He pulled back just a little, and let go of Donnie only long enough to brush some of the wetness from Donnie's face — another childhood habit he barely had to think about.

He wasn't sure how much he could trust it, given that his instincts weren't as innate as April's or as developed as Splinter's, but it _felt_ like something was healing inside this Donatello. Leo smiled. At least he'd been able to do _some_ good here, even if it was accomplished by wielding emotions instead of katana. He'd just have to fill this Donnie full of enough love to last him after his own Donnie brought him home. If April's arrival in their family had taught him one thing, it was that love had a habit of spreading. And it made better the ones that it touched.

Resting his forehead against Donnie's, he sighed. "You're gonna be okay, you know. You're stronger than you think. Sometimes you just need a different mirror in order to be able to see it."

* * *

Donnie looked into Leo's eyes, then reached behind his own head, untying his purple bandanna and letting the soaked fabric fall to the floor. He let out a sigh, "I'm not that strong though… I'm really just not."

* * *

Leo cupped a hand around his brother's face, tilting it until his brother met his gaze. "Donnie, if I were your Leo, would you trust me as a leader?"

* * *

"I trust you as a leader now," he replied, his face contorting into confusion. "Why do you ask?

* * *

Leo smiled. "Then trust that I would never, _ever_ let my family go into danger if I thought there was the slightest chance that they wouldn't succeed. I don't _think_ you're strong enough to do this, Donnie. I_ know_ it. And as leader, I'm putting it to _you_ to lead this mission. Splinter once told me that he could have picked any of us to lead, which means _you_ have that potential in you too. And if that's not enough…"

Reaching up, Leo untied his own mask, which had dried as he had held Donnie, willing his strength and love into him. Leo pressed the blue fabric into Donnie's hand and closed his fingers around it. "Take this with you. Then you've got part of me on this mission as well, and you _know_ that there's no way that any part of me is going to let you fail. 'Failure is not an option,' remember?" He tilted his head and grinned. "You can give it back to me when you bring April's sister home."

* * *

His breath hitched as Leo pressed his mask into his hand, and Donnie took it, immediately tying the blue fabric around his neck, "I-I… I don't know what to say, Leo. I-I never thought anyone really believed in me as much as you do…"

* * *

Leo laughed gently. "And here I thought you knew everything. Who'd have thought there'd be one time I knew something you didn't." He touched the mask around Donnie's neck, and then rested a hand on his shoulder. "Leader blue looks good on you, little bro." He smiled proudly. "Time to put the beatdown where it belongs."

Donnie grinned, his own hand traveling to the mask. He hugged Leo tightly once more, "You want my purple one…? One that's not soaking wet? And I mean, I want you to keep it, to take it home."

* * *

Leo returned the hug with all the strength left in him, so proud of his little brother he thought he would burst. And in another moment, he had even more reason to be glad of the hug, as tears pricked his eyes at Donnie's words.

_Home…_

He grinned despite the sting in his eyes. He found the idea of being able to keep a connection to this Donnie, even after he returned to his own family, surprisingly comforting. "That would make me… really happy,"

Donnie hugged him close, before using one hand to rifle through a drawer and pull out a clean, purple bandanna. "Take this one, Leo. It's my gift from me to you. Take it home with you."

He pulled away and looked Leo in the eyes, "Are you alright, Leo?"

* * *

Leo took the purple mask from Donnie and wrapped it expertly around his wrist, tucking in the ends so that it wouldn't catch or come loose. _There._ Snug, functional, and more to the point, he couldn't _not_ see it. It would serve as a reminder that, no matter what else, he had a purpose here. That he could do good here. That he was _loved_ here, and had family to love in return. How could he be sad in the face of that?

He looked up into Donnie's face and smiled. "I'm better than all right," he said. He nudged Donnie gently. "Now, as much as I enjoy being your personal beanbag chair, and am here for your exclusive use whenever you need me," he gestured at the fact that they were still on the floor, Donnie still mostly wrapped around Leo like an affectionate green barnacle, "you have some work to do, little brother."

* * *

Donnie nodded his head, putting a thumb on Leo's wrist where the purple bandanna was tied. He ran his thumb across it gently, a small smile spreading across his face. "I do have work to do, yeah… thanks for giving me the strength to go on, Leo. I needed that, for sure."

* * *

Leo placed his hand over Donnie's and squeezed gently. "Any time, Donnie. I mean it." With a final squeeze, he reluctantly extricated himself and went to pull Donnie to his feet. "Now, little brother, make me prou—-yaaaaaaugh!"

He'd completely overlooked the fact that all the time spent with Donnie on top of him had sent his legs completely and thoroughly to sleep, and he toppled forward, arms flailing, in probably the most un-ninja-like graceless face-plant in the history of time. Well, except maybe for the thing with the beehive. Rolling over, he looked up at Donnie and grinned sheepishly. "Ummm… little help?"

* * *

Donnie couldn't help but laugh as he helped the leader onto his feet. He gave Leo one final hug, pulling him up quickly. "You're going to need to lean on me while the nerves wake. I'm hoping that won't be a problem?"

He couldn't help be reminded of the time with the beehive, and gave another laugh to the blue banded turtle he was keeping upright.

* * *

"I think I can handle that." He leaned into Donnie as his brother wrapped his arms around him, grateful for the support, and when Donnie started laughing, Leo couldn't help but join in. "So much for my heroic leader 'once more into the breach' thing."

Leo glared down at his traitorous legs, before transferring a self-deprecating smile to Donnie. "Thanks, though. For everything. You didn't have to take me in, but I'm really glad you—_gnnnh_!" A stab shot through his calves as sensation started to return to them, and his face contorted as the worst case of pins and needles he'd ever had crept up his legs. "Stupid feet."

* * *

Donnie laughed still, "You're still heroic, Leo. I promise." He nudged his older brother, but gave a yelp of surprise when he cried out in pain, "Oh God, are you all right?" He looked into Leo's eyes, the concern for his brother obvious.

* * *

"Fffffiiine," Leo said through clenched teeth. "It just…really…._tingles_." As he shifted despite himself, changing the weight on his legs, a new wave of pins and needles washed over him. His knees quivered and he grabbed onto Donnie for dear life as he let out a yelp of surprise that ended in a fit of helpless giggling.

* * *

"Let's get you to the couch, eh Leo?" Donnie asked, adjusting the turtle lying on him so that he could walk the two of them into the living room. He gave a slight grunt (Leo wasn't exactly light as a feather) as he did so, but smiled over at his older brother nonetheless.

* * *

The step down into the pit proved an additional challenge that dumped Leo on his shell again, and as Donnie hauled him back up onto the relative safety of the cushions, both of them still giggling, Leo couldn't help but wonder at the change in his brother in just a few short hours.

"You know," he said, "I kept thinking of this whole 'adventure through time and space' as an accident." His fingers touched the purple fabric wrapped around his wrist. "But now, I'm not so sure."

* * *

Donnie's own hand traveled to the blue bandanna that was wrapped around his neck, "I'm not supposed to believe in fate and destiny, but this does seem a little meant to be, as they say." He gave Leo a smile and leaned in for a hug, "God, I'm going to miss you."

* * *

"It makes sense, in a way," Leo said. "_You_ were the one who built the machine on my side. And it just so happened to drop me here when _your_ Leo was gone, and the you on this side didn't just need a friend or a brother, you needed a leader, too. Maybe this is just how it was supposed to be."

He held Donnie tightly. "I'll miss you, too, little bro. But it'll be okay." He pulled back just a little, and placed his hand on Donnie's plastron, over his heart. "You've got me here now." He grinned. "And as leader, I'm officially leaving you in charge of showing the rest of the family how the hugging thing is done."

* * *

"I don't think that that is ever going to go down that well, but maybe I can get everyone to do it, somehow…?" he replied, a frown drawing across his face. His family wasn't as close as this Leo's and, with this Leo leaving, he wouldn't have a family member that he could get really close to.

* * *

"Of course you can," Leo said, grinning. "Heck, it took a near-death experience with ratroaches to bring it out of us, but we're the same family. There are some minor differences, sure, but all the major stuff is the same." He let out a breath. "It seems like there's some major crisis every week, with our family."

Leo shook his head. "The point is, the potential is _all there_, Donnie. In all of you. After all, I found it in you. But without the whole ratroach thing, it may take some digging to get it out of the others." He rubbed Donnie's head. "If anyone can pull it off, it's you and that stubborn head of yours."

* * *

"Did you want this mask back or…?"

* * *

Leo laughed. "Okay, fine, you beat me to it. I had a whole inspirational speech prepared for when you gave back the mask after you got Marceline, but it's yours, bro. It always was. Probably better without the speech, anyway." He placed his hand behind Donnie's head, drawing him forward and gently bumping his forehead against his brother's. "So it can remind you to stop every once in a while and see yourself through my eyes."

* * *

"It's different here. Raph is always mad, and I mean specifically mad at me, because of my relationship with April. Mikey's… he's just changed, and Leo doesn't… seem to care as much as he should. I mean, I know he does, but it's not very… obvious."

He smiled at Leo, his hand thumbing the blue fabric wrapped around his neck, "Actually, I'd love to hear that speech anyway, if you don't mind. It might help right about now."

* * *

"I can't speak for the others, but if your Leo is anything like me, which he is, he's busy freaking out over the fact that he's now responsible for making the decisions that may or may not get you out of a fight in one piece. Believe me, there were more than a few nightmares to deal with before my emotions let my brain convince them that you guys know what you're doing." Leo smirked. "Give him time."

"And before I give you the speech, I should probably ask — did the thing with the toy helicopter when we were eleven happen here?"

* * *

"Leo seems like he's perfectly fine and doesn't have a care in the world. I mean, I should really be over this, but there was a time, not a few weeks ago, where Leo and Raph took to calling Mikey and I the B-Team. Leo equated us to_ Space Heroes_ characters that died on the spot. I'm not kidding," he explained, the sadness of the moment enveloping him. This was a sore spot with the purple banded turtle, something that even though he forgave Leo for, would always nag at him. It wasn't unusual for him to get worked up over the small things.

"When I crashed it…? Yeah, it happened here. Why do you ask?"

* * *

"Of course I seem fine. I'm terrified that if I show weakness or doubt, I'll be letting you all down. It gets worse after the nightmares, too, and there were plenty of those after the fight with the Shredder and April getting taken by Dogpound." He rubbed his head, feeling strangely vulnerable without his mask.

"That's what the teasing is about. Trying to be normal, which, let's face it, in a family of four teenage boys, involves a lot of teasing. But I'm sorry if it hurt you that much. I didn't know, and I didn't actually mean it — heck, Donnie, I'd been awake half the night before because I had a nightmare that I'd led us into a trap and gotten you all—" He couldn't finish the thought.

"I don't know what I'd do if anything actually happened to you. You're not an expendable Space Heroes extra. You're my brother. You're my counterpart when it comes to thinking before acting. You're the level head I can count on to make sense in this house. You're my hero. I could never do without you."

He shifted. "So yeah. The helicopter thing. That was important, Donnie. When you rebuilt that thing using the spare parts around the lab, and you added all that extra stuff, and we dropped that balloon full of sour chocolate milk on Raph?" He placed his hands on Donnie's shoulders. "That was the first time I saw it. How you take broken things, and you don't just fix them, you make them beautiful."

He smiled fondly. "That's why you need my mask. So when you're feeling sad and broken, you can look through my eyes, and see how amazing you actually are. And then you can fix it." His hands tightened on Donnie's shoulders. "You're Donnie. You can fix anything."

* * *

Donnie could feel the pressure of a lump rising in his throat, a lump caused by the admission of weakness that Leonardo the leader had felt. Leo feeling weak was too much of a foreign concept to him, something that he couldn't fathom if he tried to. "You were plagued by nightmares too?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly. After a short throat clearing, he continued.

"Well, I mean, like I said, I really should have gotten over it Leo. It was just a stupid joke, I know, but, the way he said it made it seem like it wasn't a joke at all. It seemed like he was completely serious, and that's what hurt. It's just nagged at me ever since." The younger turtle nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Leo's shoulder, "I know you wouldn't lead us into any traps."

"I have to believe you on the hero thing," he teased, nudging the alternate Leo softly. "Seeing a how I just bawled my eyes out because it was the nicest thing you'd ever said to me."

"Beautiful? Leo are you there? You see the beauty in technology now? When did that happen? You feeling alright?" he teased once more, a smile stretching across his face. He had to admit, when he repaired something, he usually went all out.

"You gave me the mask so I can see through your eyes? So I can see that, despite what I might be feeling… you're always going to see me as some beautiful mastermind who can turn anything into a masterpiece?"

* * *

Leo could feel his grin creeping wider as he listened to Donnie work his way through what Leo had just said. As he watched the confidence spreading through his brother until it shone. He was starting to understand why Splinter pushed them so hard. When your student finally came to master a skill you were trying to teach them, the rush of pride you felt in them was the greatest feeling in the world.

"Got it in one, little brother," he said, tapping Donnie on the head with a finger, "I always knew you were the smart one." He brushed his fingers over the blue mask, and gave Donnie a lopsided smile. "It's pretty versatile for a little scrap of fabric." He adopted his best Splinter impression. "Use it wisely."

* * *

Donnie felt his own smile widen along with his elder brothers, and within moments his arms wrapped around Leo once again. Leo was giving him all the strength and confidence that he needed, and Donnie would be forever grateful for that.

"You better watch out on using that impression. Someone might take to calling you Splinter Junior," he teased, a chuckle rising up from him. "I guess I need to go to rescue Marce now, Leo. Will you be here when I get back?"

* * *

Leo hugged Donnie close, basking in his brother's newfound strength. "And _that_ is why I will never do that impression in front of Raph." He snickered. "Go. Be a hero. Make me proud." He let go of Donnie and gave him an encouraging grin. "Of course I'll be here when you get back. Short of, oh, a horde of slavering ratroaches, I can't think of anything that would keep me away."

* * *

_And yes, Leo then ran into a horde of ratroaches while Donnie was out rescuing Marceline, and fought it off with party-dude-mikey and hotheadinred._


	10. The Heroes Return

_You asked for it, part 2 - this is the second of the major Leo and Donnie threads from Leo's adventures through the rift. After fighting the ratroach (which is still ongoing), Leo made it home just as Donnie made it back from Vampire Rescue. As before, the Leo sections are mine, but the Donnie sections are ninjaturtledonnie's. (The sole exception is that I was the one who wrote Leo's note). This is also a live thread, with no pre-planning at all. This is just where the conversation took us._

_Donnie's remark in "Why would you SAY that, Donnie?" (Chapter 6 of this story) is relevant here._

* * *

Donnie was back from his rescue mission, and was sure to run straight to the alternate Leo in order to tell him all about how it went. The genius turtle figured that he'd be in the dojo, so that's where he went immediately.

Upon entering, he saw a note stuck to the nearest punching bag, which went as follows:

_"Hey Donnie,_

_So, yeah, there was a horde of slavering ratroaches. Oops. STOP FREAKING OUT. I'm FINE. Mikey and I are dealing with it. If I'm not back before you are, I know you did awesome, and I can't wait to hear all about how you saved the day._

_Love,_

_Leo"_

* * *

Leo looked at the turnstiles in dismay. Mikey and Raph had helped him get this far, but he'd sent them back to do a final sweep of the tunnels for ratroach eggs, just in case. He'd thought he'd be fine, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible. They'd left the dojo pretty trashed and covered in ratroach goo, and even with the note, he wanted to reassure Donnie that he was okay. Plus, he wanted to know how the rescue had gone. Not that he doubted for a minute it would be a success. He just wanted to know the details.

But he was sore, and tired, and filthy, and covered in scratches and ratroach bites, and his ankle hurt, and his head was still swimming in and out from when he'd been thrown into the wall and knocked senseless for a bit, and suddenly the thought of jumping the turnstiles was far more daunting than it should have been.

But his stupid shell wasn't going to fit through.

Sighing, he planted his hands on either side of the turnstiles and jumped.

_Of course_ his foot caught on the bar. He landed on his back, driving the wind out of himself, and groaned, closing his eyes. _Really graceful, Leo. _Maybe he'd just lay here for a while. That sounded good. The floor was flat, and cold, and didn't bite. The floor was nice.

* * *

Donnie heard the resulting crash and immediately headed for the turnstiles, giving a small gasp when he saw his older brother lying on the ground. He moved to help the other one up, concern etching across his face as he did so.

"Are you alright?!" he exclaimed, promptly being Donnie and freaking out like he always had when one of the brothers had been hurt. He moved Leo over to the living room couch, sitting him down on it before leaving to retrieve his first aid kit.

When he returned, he immediately began to disinfect the wounds that he had inspected. "Care to explain?"

* * *

Leo heard the shout and cracked his eyes open as hands grabbed him and lifted him up. He was pretty sure it was Donnie, but his head was starting to swim again. Leo staggered with him as best he could, letting himself be dumped on the softness of the couch (_Nicer than floor. Not so cold._), and felt himself slumping sideways as the hands left him.

The sudden change in positions had done a number on his head. As the voice returned, it brought with it a sharp sting on the bites already made raw by the ratroaches' caustic slime, and a demand for explanation.

"Ow!" Leo protested, swatting ineffectually at the source of his pain. He opened his eyes again, and a green form swam into view as his head slowly began to clear. "Donnie? Izzat you?"

* * *

Donnie nodded his head, "Yeah it's me. Are you alright? What happened?" he asked, still fretting over the leader and putting Band-Aids over his scrapes. He gave a small smile, "Did you kick some rat roach butt, or what?"

* * *

Leo started to smile, and then winced. That hurt his head. "Yup! Mighta got bit, and blown up into a wall some, but you shoulda seen the other guy. Girl. Thing." He was proud of himself. His words were only slurring a little now. His head was getting better all the time._ Stupid head._ _Focus, eyes. There. Donnie. There he is. He's looking at me. Were his eyes always that colour? My eyes aren't that colour. I have eyes. _

Leo grinned. "Hey, did you know your eyes are pretty?"

* * *

Donnie grinned down at him, "Even if you're not technically my Leo, I still don't want you hitting on me. Your interest is noted and appreciated, though." He let out a small chuckle and nudged the other Leo ever so slightly. "Do you know your name?"

* * *

"Pssh," Leo said. "You wish. Like you can handle alla…" he gestured vaguely at himself. "…this." He swatted at Donnie's hand. The poking hurt. "Course I know who I am. I'm Raph, and I'm a big fat loudmouth who yells at people so they won't know how much I just want them to love me." He sighed happily. "He did so good. I love Raph." He looked up at Donnie. "I love you." His eyes fell on the blue bandanna, and he smiled. "Heyyyy, right, you were _me_ today! How'd you do, leader? Save the day?" Leo let his head fall against the back of the couch and looked expectantly up at his brother.

* * *

"I think I could handle you, Leo. You're just a big softie no matter what you say," he replied, still teasing his elder brother.

He chuckled at Leo's (incredibly accurate) description of the red banded hothead, and put a hand on Leo's forehead, "I love you too, Leo. but you are making it incredibly hard to tell if you have a concussion or not." Donnie took a seat next to him and smiled "The leader position went great. It felt so easy saving Marceline, and I swear it was because of your bandanna, Leo. It made me strong. It made me believe in myself. I can't thank you enough."

* * *

Leo beamed, despite the fact that it really hurt his head. "Shyeeeeah! Who's the guy who's always right?" He hitched a thumb at himself. "This guy." He giggled. "I knew you had it in you. I was just like the cata— cat- cattle— that thing you put in a chemical thing to make it go better. But all the awesome stuff that makes the cool explosion was already there." He rolled his head so that he could see Donnie better. "See? I know science words too." He sighed. "My head would be good if I could stop hitting it for five minutes." He giggled again. "'Bandana.' Sounds like 'banana.'"

* * *

Donnie put a hand on top of Leo's. "You're looking for the word catalyst, and that is definitely what you are. I really appreciate all your help with everything today…"

He pulled Leo closer to him, resting the leader's head on his shoulder and giving him a smile, "Relax, you're extremely loopy right now and you may or may not have a concussion. I honestly can't tell."

* * *

"Don't mention it. You're my Donnie." He snuggled closer to his brother, wrapping his arms around Donnie's waist, rewarded by a twinge in his shoulder as he pulled on the deep bite in one arm. "Ow. I'm always gonna be there for my Donnie. For all my Donnies." He patted Donnie's shell. "I miss you." Leo cuddled deeper, and his eyes snapped open. "_Wow_, you're comfy. How'd you _do_ that?" He sighed, leaning in to Donnie's shoulder.

* * *

Despite the phrase mostly coming from a loopy, incoherent Leo, the phrase "You're my Donnie," pulled at his heart and made him grin. He wrapped his arms around Leo and cuddled the Leo back, "Why do you miss me? I'm right here!"

He decided that it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to mess with Leo while he was out of it. "You wanna know how I get so comfy, Leo…?"

* * *

"Well I know _that,_" Leo said, squeezing Donnie tighter and burying his face against him. Of course Donnie was_here_. "I can feel _that_. That's why I'm all warm and happy and stuff. But you're at home, too." He tilted his head so that he could look up into Donnie's eyes. "Yeah, I really wanna know." He gave an expectant smile.

* * *

"Oh, that's what you meant…" Donnie replied, a sad smile finding it's way onto his face momentarily.

It was immediately placed with a grin. Donnie leaned in close to Leo's ear and whispered, "Magic!" Then he backed a way and gave a small flourish with his hands.

* * *

Leo's eyes went wide as saucers. "_Really?_"

* * *

Donnie gave a long, exaggerated nod. "Really."

* * *

Leo looked at him a long moment. "…whoaaaa." He bounced a little, grinning. "Can you make my head stop hurting? I wanna stop feeling funny so I can talk to you right."

* * *

"Yeah," he replied, grabbing a simple Tylenol from the aid kit and dropping it in Leo's hand. "Take that. You'll be fine."

* * *

Leo swallowed the pill dry, a habit born out of long practice, and made a face. He stretched, wincing against the pain, and only then really noticed the bandages marking his arms. It seemed that his head was starting to edge toward clear again. Probably because his brain hadn't been bashed around inside his skull for a while. "Hey, you fixed me. When did you do that?"

* * *

"About ten minutes ago when you said I wouldn't be able to handle your body, actually."

* * *

Leo froze and stared at Donnie. "When I…._what?" _He could feel the blush rising to his face and smacked his hand against his head, momentarily forgetting that it had taken more than its share of blows that night and was covered in rather painful bumps. "OW!" He pulled his hand away gingerly. "Owowowowow…"

* * *

"Yeah, you said I had pretty eyes. I shot you down," he teased, a hand resting on top of Leo's own. "It was brutal."

"Don't try and finish the job, big bro. I don't want you hurt anymore than you already are."

* * *

"Oh, kill me now." Leo would have buried his head in his hands, but he'd probably end up hurting something else, and Donnie would kill him. "If I'm that bad after a few bumps on the head, remind me to never, _ever_ get drunk." As his head continued clearing, he began to remember a little more about the events of the evening.

He looked down at the extent of his injuries, and then back at Donnie with a grin. "Sorry for making so much work for you. Looks like you did way better than me on that front tonight. Nice work, there, bro."

* * *

Donnie smiled, putting a hand to the back of his neck and running his fingers over the cloth. "The worst was a bit of smoke inhalation. I think I'll be alright. You, on the other hand, what's your name? I need to check for a concussion."

* * *

Leo rolled his eyes. "I thought we already played this game. I'm Donnie and my giant brain thinks about things so much that I forget to stop and see how stupidly awesome I actually am." He glanced sidelong at his brother. He couldn't help teasing, just a little. They were brothers. That's what they _did_.

* * *

Donnie laughed, and teased right back, "Good news, you don't have a concussion. Bad news, you're insane. I'm so sorry."

* * *

Leo snickered. "Being part of this family for fifteen years, can you really blame me?"

* * *

"No, I don't think that I ever could. What exactly happened to you?"

* * *

Leo smiled ruefully as he examined his doctored wounds. "I was looking around trying to keep myself busy while you guys were gone, and I found a ratroach in the dojo. Don't ask me how it got here, I figure that's your territory, not mine, and I still don't get how the alternate reality thing works…" he shrugged. "But I knew that it wasn't good. And then Mikey and another ratroach showed up, and the ratroaches trashed the dojo until one of them killed the other, and then it ran off. So we found a Raph and went after it."

Leo grimaced at the memory of the evening's events. "It started changing. Becoming a queen. I couldn't let that happen. So even though it had some new mutations I hadn't seen before, we stuck with it until we figured out how to kill it. Even though it meant getting pretty banged up." He looked down at his ankle. "Did you find the spine that broke off in there? That one hurt pretty bad." He shrugged. "And let me tell you, I did NOT miss the feel of extremely caustic ratroach slime in open bites, even if it does cauterize the wound. Anyway. That's where I got most of them."

He blushed a little. "The head thing was…kinda my own fault."

* * *

"And I'm assuming that ratroaches are monsters that aren't to be messed with? Incredibly vicious and merciless?" He put a hand on Leo's head gingerly, stroking his forehead with a thumb. "And I'm also assuming that the Queen would be even more vicious than a normal ratroach?"

"What did you do to hurt your own head?"

* * *

"Pretty much," Leo said. "Take all the scariest parts of rat and a cockroach and mash them together into a creature the size of a rottweiler, with spines on their legs that can rip you open — and apparently break off in my ankle, which was a super-fun discovery, let me tell you. That was new. And they've got razor sharp teeth, and impenetrable armour. And they bite. A lot."

Leo shuddered. "Then coat the whole thing in slime so alkali that it practically burned a hole in my April's skin. That's a _worker_. The queens are the size of a subway car and can produce a few hundred of the workers in about an hour." He frowned. "I wasn't about to let her turn _that_ loose on my family."

He braced himself as Donnie reached for his head, but he needn't have bothered. His brother's touch was gentle, and the brush of his thumb was soothing. Leo found himself relaxing, leaning into the touch a little.

"A word of leader advice from the book of Leo, little brother. When making your victory speech, don't do it in front of the corpse of an explosive monster." He winced. "Not unless you like being blasted at high speed into a wall. Funny thing, turns out brick walls and my head are not a good mix."

* * *

The genius turtle gave up a little shudder, but quickly went back to stroking Leo's forehead. He shook his head, "Oh my God, Leo… that's awful. I can't believe all of that happened while I was out."

He chuckled at Leo's advice, and pulled his brother in close for a small hug. "I'll keep that advice in mind, Leo. Meanwhile, I think I could do a celebratory dance for ten years right now."

* * *

Leo shrugged. "Well, you know, it's _us._ Typical Saturday." He returned Donnie's hug, trying not to wince as it pulled on his bites and scratches, and kept his hands on Donnie's shoulders when he let go. "I'd say you've earned it," he said, grinning. "I can't remember — have I said yet that I'm awfully proud of you?"

* * *

"No you haven't. I'm pretty open to hearing it, though," he noted, a grin forming on his face.

* * *

Leo grinned back. "I'm proud of you, Donatello. Like you wouldn't believe."

* * *

"Don't hesitate to inflate me ego anymore," he joked nudging him once again.

* * *

"Uh-oh, did I go too far? I'll have to do something about that," Leo said. Grinning like an idiot, he grabbed Donnie around the neck and gave him a firm noogie. Not hard enough to hurt, of course, but it just felt so good to see Donnie _happy_ that he couldn't help himself. He just needed to _play. _Most of his time with Mikey had been spent fighting for their lives, and he'd barely even seen Raph, and he _missed_ it.

* * *

Donnie grabbed at Leo's arm and made a move to pull it away, laughing while squirming in his older brother's grasp. He grasped at Leo's arm, the laughing coming all too naturally from him. "L-Leo! Cut it out!"

* * *

"Nuh-uh!" Leo said through his own laughter. "Not until I vanquish the strange ego-monster that has threatened to swell my brother's head!" In a slightly less Captain Ryan-y voice, he added, "We can't afford that, you're brain's already too big. There's no more space up there!" The wrestling was hurting his ratroach wounds, but he didn't care. He'd _needed_ this.

* * *

Donnie continued his laughter, his squirming intensifying as he was noogied. He managed to break free momentarily and pounce on top of Leo, forgetting about the turtle's wounds. He started to tickle Leo's armpits, having a small inkling that that was his ticklish spot. "Well, you're infected with Captain Ryan-itis! We need to get you a cure!"

* * *

Leo's laughter broke only for a small "ow," as Donnie jumped him, but intensified again as Donnie found the ticklish spots under his arms. "N-nooo," he howled through his laughter. "Noooooo! I will never yield Captain Ryan and I can ne—" he choked on the words, unable to force them through the laugher as Donnie's hand found a particularly sensitive spot. "—never be parted!"

He flailed uselessly at his brother, but between his exhaustion, his injuries, and the helplessness of the tickling, he was effectively at Donnie's mercy.

* * *

Donnie continued to tickle his older brother, his laughs intermixed with cries for vengeance against Captain Ryan, who infected his older brother with the disease. He stopped tickling after a moment, and moved to wrap Leo in a hug, pulling him close against his own body.

* * *

Leo's giggles faded into a breathless sigh as Donnie dragged him in, and he found just enough strength to wrap his arms around his brother and let his head fall forward. "Ohhh, my everything hurts," he moaned into Donnie's shoulder, his voice still carrying traces of laughter. He let out a slow breath to calm the tremors, and considered for a moment the other versions of his family he had encountered since his arrival. And found he had just a little more strength in him after all.

"Hey, Donnie? I'm glad you were the one who found me."

The last of his reserves exhausted, Leo was effectively trapped until Donnie decided to let him go. But somehow he found that this was the kind of prisoner he didn't mind being in the least.

* * *

Donnie put a hand on the back of Leo's head and gave it a small pat. He let out a content sigh, "I wish I could do something to ease the pain, Leo…"

"I'm glad you came to my universe. I needed you, and I only just recently realized it." He kept his hold on Leo, and moved to lay down with him on their couch. Don kept his brother close.

* * *

Leo closed his eyes, cuddling against Donatello like they hadn't really done since they were children. The exhaustion was dragging at him now, slurring his words a bit. "Yeah, you were a little broken." He let go just long enough to tap Donnie's plastron, over his heart. "But that's okay. We fixed you with gold."

Yawning, he wrapped his arm back around his brother. "D'you think you could stay with me for a little longer? Then I won't mind so much if it hurts."

* * *

"What're you talking about, Leo…? Fixed me with gold?" He replied, a yawn slipping from his mouth. He hadn't actually realized how tired he was. All he wanted to do was just sleep it off, sleep away the exhausting mission of getting Marceline back.

He gave a minuscule nod of his head. "I'll stay as long as you want…"

* * *

Leo snorted. "Don't tell me you tune out too when Splinter's talking about Japanese stuff. I thought Raph and Mikey were bad." He stifled another yawn, closing his eyes and nestling himself more comfortably against Donnie. "_Kintsukuroi,_ 'member? When you fix a broken cup or something with gold laquer," he yawned again, and tried to quote Splinter, "'understanding that it's more beautiful for having been broken.'" He tucked his head closer to his brother, letting out a long breath. "I'm so tired, Donnie."

* * *

"No, I don't tune out. You were just the best at Japanese. Always were and always will be."

He tightened his grip on Leo, "Are you calling me beautiful again?" He sighed and shut his eyes, his breath evening out, "Want to go to sleep, big bro…?"

* * *

"I'm saying that when _you_ fix broken things, you make them better. You fix them with gold. Even when the broken thing is you." He shivered a little as Donnie held him tighter. Usually, he felt that he had to be the strong one, but this once, he didn't mind being comforted and protected by his little brother. "Sleep sounds nice."

* * *

"Then let's go to sleep… we'll talk more in the morning, okay?"

* * *

"Whatever you say," Leo murmured, and let himself drift away, secure in the knowledge that his family was safe, and that they were together.

* * *

Donnie drifted away with his older brother, his snores light and easy.


	11. Cold as Ice

_Sometimes people send you anonymous "Magic Anon" commands, and Leo got hit with one of them. This thread is the reason why Rift!Donnie is pretty much joined at the hip to Falling!Leo. Once again, this is a live RP thread, with me writing Leo, and ninjaturtledonnie writing Donnie. Lord Sameth made art for this one - it's on my fanart page on my tumblr._

_This time, there was actually a very basic framework in place, but only for the very major points (like, three of them). The rest was freely back-and-forth. Neither one of us knew what the other was going to reply, which makes RP-ing more fun._

* * *

Leo stretched as he walked through the lair. He'd lost track of how long he'd been on this side of the rift, but it felt like it had been way more than a week, and he absently wondered how much longer it would be before Donatello managed to fix the machine that had brought him here.

Purple caught his eye, and he smiled fondly at the mask wrapped around his wrist. There had been an awful lot of weirdness, true, and he was still a little sore from his injuries against the ratroaches, despite the fact that all the bandages were off now. But his brothers were here, and with Donnie, at least, he was every bit as close to the brother on this side of the rift as he was to the one on the other. He'd done _good_ here. And if he had to be stuck here, at least it was with family.

**_Oh, really?_**

Leo started at the sound of the voice. "Hello?"

An icy wind swirled around him, making him shiver. _**You really think you belong here? You really think you've made a difference in their lives? **_

Great. More rift weirdness. Leo scowled. "I _know_ I have."

_**You're not **_**really **_**family, you know. Not even to **_**that **_**one. He could never love you as much as he loves his own.**_

Leo smirked. "Now I _know_ that's not true." Desperately, he wished for something to fight. He may have left his katana on the other side of the rift, but if there'd been a body, he could at least have thrown his shuriken at it. But how did you fight a voice? And the things it was saying…

But…he was pretty sure about Donnie…

**_Ah, is that a trace of doubt in your heart? _**

"No!" Leo snapped.

**_Perhaps a test then. Something fitting… A test of your belief and his love. Should either of you fail…well, then neither one of your families shall have you. _**

"I don't—" Leo began, but the wind swirled around him again, sending icy trickles over his limbs, and he started shivering too hard to finish the thought. And as the wind faded, it took his memories of the encounter with it, until he had only a vague recollection of something strange and cold that did not belong in the lair.

He shook his head. Weird. He would never really understand this place. And he was _cold_. He wanted tea. But when he went to take a step toward the kitchen, he found that he couldn't. And his feet…_hurt._

He looked down, and his eyes widened. No wonder. His feet were encased in a thick coating of ice that spread out over the floor, locking him in place.

He wasn't sure what was going on. He didn't understand how the rules worked in this place. But there was only one person he could think of right now who might possibly be able to fix it.

_"Donnie!"_

* * *

The teen was only lying on his bed, brainstorming for new ideas. He was lost in his thoughts, the images of gears and cogs filling up his mind. He was ripped from his daydream when he heard Leo's scream, and immediately flew out the door and into the lair.

He didn't notice anything odd at first. The lair was warm, warmer than it usually was, and Leo was standing in the lair. It was the other Leo, now easily identifiable by the band around his wrist, and Donnie gave him a small smile.

The turtle moved over to him, a smile still painted on his face as he spoke, "Leo? What's up? You sounded like you needed me for something."

The phrase 'ignorance is bliss' could never be more accurate as it was in that instant. He hadn't noticed the ice, the frozen water that locked Leo to the ground.

He was so unaware.

* * *

_Oh, thank god._ Leo tried to calm his pounding heart. For a minute, he'd been afraid that Donnie wasn't even there, gone on a scavenging run or off to see April. He put on a halfhearted smile, trying to play it cool, trying not to panic. Donnie would figure something out. He didn't need Leo freaking out to add to the pressure.

"Hey, D-Donnie," he said, and immediately winced, annoyed with himself. He couldn't tell if the stammer had come from the fear or the cold, but it didn't help his image any. "So, you know the weird stuff that happens around here all the time?" He gestured at his feet. "I think I might have stepped in some."

* * *

Don's eye ridge rose in confusion, and he looked down at Leo's feet, where the ice was forming all over his two appendages. He let out a small gasp, his face immediately evolving to a look of horror and concern.

"I'll find out something Leo, I promise you I will. First… I'm gonna try my blowtorch. That alright with you, Leo?" he asked, his voice quivering in fear. "I'm not letting you get hurt again, and so soon."

* * *

"Okay," Leo said. He didn't miss the fear in Donnie's voice, and immediately locked his own down, giving Donnie a confident grin. "Hey, we'll figure this out, right? We've been through worse. This is j-just a l-little ice. Not like it's an army of mousers." He looked down at his feet. "Just… hurry, okay?" The ice was at his ankles now, and he was pretty sure that it hadn't been that high before. "I th-think it might be spreading."

* * *

"W-wait right here," Donnie said, dashing back to his room in order to grab his blowtorch quickly. He zipped back into the lair with it, and immediately turned the torch on, holding it on Leo's frozen toes.

* * *

Leo hadn't known what he was expecting. It was a blowtorch, yeah, but there looked to be about three inches of ice between his feet and the flame. So when it felt like there was nothing at all there, like the torch was being applied directly to his skin—

_It's all in your head, mind over matter, it's not really— oh, screw the mind it HURTS!_

He tried to hold out against the pain until the ice melted. He really did. But he couldn't do it. Unable to help himself, Leo started screaming.

Donnie dropped his blowtorch, making sure not to drop it on his brother's feet. He shot up and put his hand's on Leo's shoulders, and shook him. "Leo, are you alright? Oh my God, I'm sorry!"

* * *

Panting, Leo brought his trembling hands up to rest on Donnie's arms. "Yeah," he said, breathless. "Let's not do that again." He looked down at his feet. There was only a small pool in the ice, which quickly solidified, and he watched the ice creep slowly over his ankles, as though in retaliation. "Apparently, whatever you try to do to the ice, I feel like you're doing to me." He let out a shaky laugh. "So, good. We've learned something. That's science, right?"

He looked at Donnie, feeling a little ashamed. "Sorry, bro. I tried to hold out, but I wasn't… I wasn't strong enough."

* * *

"Don't say that you weren't strong enough," Donnie commanded, bringing his hands up in order to rub his own face. Donnie's voice was muffled through his hands, "You took the full force of my torch. Okay, if the torch won't work, what else should we try…?"

* * *

Leo flinched as Donnie snapped at him. "S-sorry," he said, and thought about it. Donnie had the brain, Leo just had to direct it. That's how this team _worked. Leo could do that. "Okay, you tell me, science guy. What else do people use to melt ice?" He looked down at his feet. "Preferably stuff they can t-touch without risking serious personal injury."_

* * *

"The ice shouldn't even be able to form… it's so hot in here…" Donnie commented, making a mental note to check the thermostat in a few moments. "The only other thing I can think of is to use chemicals, and I'm not going to do that because it'll burn your skin off."

* * *

Leo sucked in a breath. "Yeah," he said. "L-lets not do that." He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. "Are you serious? I'm f-freezing." He looked down again, and his eyes widened. The ice was halfway to his knees. "Uh…Donnie?"

* * *

Donnie groaned, sweat pooling at his brow. He gave it a furious wipe, and started pacing around his older brother. His voice cracked with fear and nervousness. "It's eighty something in here, and that ice should not be here… oh God. I don't know what to do…"

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, D-Donnie, calm down," Leo said, holding his hands out to his brother. "Let's think about this. I mean, that's what you're good at. Just b-breathe, okay?" It was getting really hard to concentrate now. The ice was almost at his knees, and it still _felt like ice against his bare skin. It __hurt. "Right. S-so, how do they get rid of ice on s-steps and stuff? Obviously they c-can't be throwing skin-burning chemicals where k-kids are playing."_

* * *

"I mean, I could spread salt on it, but it would take a lot more than we actually have in the kitchen…

* * *

"Nnngh." It was too hard to think. The ice was crawling up the sensitive spot at the back of his knees, and his pads weren't doing much to protect him. "F-fraid I'm not gonna be much help here," Leo said, attempting a shaky laugh. "Guess I shoulda paid more attention when you tried to teach us physics." He scratched his head. "Or is this c-chemistry?"

**_You see? He's stopped trying. He doesn't care about you._**

Leo felt an icy breeze wrap around him. It almost sounded like whispering in his ears. He rubbed his arms, trying to shake the unease that filled him.

* * *

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna get all of the salt we have. The spare containers and everything. Oh God, I hope this works… I'll be right back, Leo." He ran into the kitchen, slinging open cabinets and grabbing all of the salt he could find, even a pack of saltine crackers that he could crush up.

He returned to the living room with his hands full. Immediately he started to dump all of the salt onto the ice. He prayed that this would work.

* * *

Leo held his breath, watching as the salt sank into the ice. Slowly, rivulets of water began to run down his feet. He let out his breath in a rush, a smile of relief blossoming across his features.

It was short-lived, however. Abruptly, the water reversed direction, running back up over his knees and hardening until the ice encased him halfway up his thighs. Unable to help himself, he cried out as the chill of the ice felt like it was searing his skin. He could barely even _feel_ his feet anymore.

_Oh god. Donnie…_

Leo's eyes snapped open, and his heart ached as he saw the expression on his little brother's face.

_No. Not gonna let him see that. Gotta be strong. For Donnie._

He smiled. "Okay, s-so obviously I'm n-not the smart one."

* * *

Donnie tried to rub the salt in, his voice breaking more than it had been before. He was given a sense of false hope when the ice had finally dissolved, but his heart broke when he saw the crystals shoot up onto Leo's thighs.

A choked noise escaped his throat. He was powerless against the ice that was spreading like an infection. He failed Leo. But he couldn't stop trying. He continued to rub the salt into the ice.

* * *

"Donnie," Leo whispered, reaching out to his brother. He laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to think of something, anything that he could say. But as he looked down, he saw what Donnie, in his single-minded determination, had missed. The ice that Donnie stood on was slowly starting to inch over Donnie's feet.

_"Donnie!" _Using the grip he already had, he flung Donatello away from him. As his brother stared up at him, Leo gestured at Donnie's footprints in the ice. "I don't think this stuff is gonna let you t-touch it for too long."

* * *

Donnie let out a grunt, his shell colliding with the floor. He looked up at Leo, nodding his head, "I don't know what else to do Leo… I can't think under pressure…"

He started to pace, his mind wracking with all of the possibilities. No salt. No torch. No chemicals. No other way. And God, why was it so hot? It was sweltering, the ice shouldn't, no _couldn't, _have been able to grow. Why was it creeping up his legs? What was happening to his older brother?

* * *

"Hey," Leo said, trying to laugh, to keep his spirits up for Donnie, "n-n-no p-pressure." He gestured at the ice, which had reached the top of his legs. "Th-th-there's a whole half of m-me left. P-plenty of time." He wished he could stop shivering. He couldn't _think._

_**He's given up. He doesn't care about you. You're not **_**really **_**family.**_

_Shut up._

"C-call me c-c-crazy," Leo stuttered. "B-but I don't think th-this was an accident."

* * *

Donnie threw a hand up to his face, "I'm gonna try an ice pick… I'm gonna try not to hurt you. Luckily it seems like your toes are spread far apart for me to test if it's going to work."

He sprinted into his room, not bothering to wait for a response, and grabbed an ice pick from his tool box that was lying open on his bed. In an instant, the purple-banded turtle was kneeling down at Leo's feet, the ice pick in hand.

He brought it down between Leo's toes, giving a small sigh of relief when the ice gave away slightly. They were getting somewhere.

* * *

_See? He's not giving up. It's Donnie. He won't give up._

_**But why would he try his hardest for you? You're not even his real brother. You're just a spare.**_

_Shut up!_

Leo caught his breath as Donnie raised the ice pick.

An instant later, every nerve in his body screamed as pick dug into the ice. Leo clenched his teeth, the tension in his body straining every muscle he had, as the ice made it feel like Donnie was driving the pick directly into Leo's foot. He locked his jaw, refusing to cry out. Donnie would stop if he did.

_Don't show it, Leo. Don'tshowitdon'tshowitdon'tshowit._

* * *

Donnie was oblivious to Leo's pain, and drove the ice pick into the ice once again, harder this time. More ice gave away, the side of a toe peeking out at Donnie. He gave a half hearted grin, his voice uneasy with a glimmer of hope but laced with the same nervousness that he'd been feeling.

* * *

Leo managed to stay silent for the second blow. But the third, even harder, tore a scream from him. He clapped his hands over his mouth immediately, but he couldn't take it back. Slowly, he lowered his hands, his entire body shaking from pain and shock. "I'm s-sorry," he whispered, as the ice filled in the gaps Donnie had made and crept up over his waist. Desperately, he tried to turn it into a joke. "S-some h-hero, huh?"

* * *

Donnie gasped, throwing the ice pick away from the two of them. "Oh my God, Leo! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize!"

He stood and threw his arms around Leo, "I'm so sorry. And you are a hero, putting up with all of this… you've never been more brave."

He frowned, "I'm so useless…"

* * *

Leo clutched desperately at his brother for a moment. He was trying to put on a brave face, but deep down, he was desperately scared and he needed that contact badly. And Donnie was _so warm. Then, he placed his hands on Donnie's shoulders, pushing him back a little and giving him a tiny shake. Partly to get his attention, and partly to make sure Donnie's feet moved so that he didn't get stuck in the ice._

"Hey," he said. "St-stop that. You are _n-not_ allowed to b-blame yourself because this st-stupid ice r-r-refuses to obey the laws of s-science." He braced himself, determined to make his voice stop stuttering for at least one sentence. "That's an order from your leader, Donatello. It's n-not your fault this st-stuff is…" He paused, frowing. He almost remembered something. Almost remembered some kind of cold. A voice. Whispering. "…evil."

* * *

He looked into Leo's eyes, his own glazed over with fear. He pressed a hand to his face, rubbing the corners of his eyes as he did. "I have no idea what to do Leo, I can't save you and it's up to your waist now…"

"I'm gonna lose you…"

* * *

"H-hey," Leo said. "D-D-Donnie, l-look at me." The ice was up to his chest now, and it was getting harder to breathe. Despite that, he managed to smile for his frightened little brother. "That's n-n-not p-possible, okay? N-no m-matter what happens…" he placed a hand over Donnie's heart. "I'm h-here now." He moved his hand to brush over the blue mask Donnie still wore. "And h-h-here. N-no matter wh-what h-happens, you c-can't lose me. It _can't take that away from you. W-we w-wont __let it."_

_**Not that it matters. You're just the spare.**_

* * *

He let out a choked sound once more, his eyes threatening to water. His face was contorted in sadness. His mind drifted over to the other family who would be losing their Leo, and wouldn't even know it.

"I'm so sorry I failed you…" he said, shaking his head at Leo's words. "They're going to take _you _from me, and I won't be able to handle that."

* * *

_**You really **__**haven't **__**made a difference, you see. As soon as you're out of the picture, he'll fall apart again. Your coming here did ****nothing.**_

_"Don't say that!" _ The force with which the words tore out of him shocked Leo, and he wasn't entirely sure who he was yelling at. Reaching for Donnie, he grabbed at him desperately.

"I kn-know it will be h-hard, b-but you_ w-will_ be okay.," Leo insisted, as firmly as he was able to. "_Kintsukuroi_, r-remember? We _f-fixed_ you. Don't let them t-t-take that away f-from you. I c-couldn't st-stand that…" He cradled Donnie's face in his hands, tugging him forward until their foreheads touched. "Th-the only way you could _p-p-possibly_ f-fail me is if you let th-this — l-let _them_ — b-break you. _P-promise me_, Donnie!"

* * *

"But L-Leo, I don't think I'm strong…! I need you, Leo… I need you here… I need you alive!" he exclaimed, his eyes now starting to water. The ice was nearing Leo's armpits now.

The newly fixed pot already had a crack in it.

* * *

"_No, Donatello, you will __not let them win!" Leo's fingers dug into Donnie's shoulders. "Oh, l-little brother, it's okay t-to be sad. It's okay to grieve. But if you l-let this undo you…" he shuddered. "Then m-my coming here really d-did mean nothing…"_

**_You see? You—_**

_I'm NOT finished!_

Leo's face and voice steeled against the cold. "…and I _won't_ believe that!"

* * *

Donnie let out a small breath, his shoulders hurting with the force that Leo was putting into them. He nodded his head, his eyes watering even more now. He blinked back the tears.

"I need you, Leo…" he replied, his voice quivering softly. "And your family needs you too…"

* * *

"H-hey," he said gently, letting go of Donnie, his terror subsiding as Donnie nodded. "It's okay. You've st-still g-got a L-L-Leo," he said. The cold swirled around him, squeezing his chest, stealing his breath, until the next words slipped out almost of their own volition. "I'm j-just the s-spare."

* * *

"The spare?! You're not the spare… you're Leo… you're my older brother, and I'll be damned if I didn't love you just like my Leo," he replied, watching the ice creep up his neck. "I love you just like if you were my own…"

His eyes kept watering, the build up of tears increasing, and whenever the damn broke, it would break hard.

* * *

**_He's lying. He's just saying that to make you feel better._**

But Leo couldn't believe it. Leo had once asked Donnie about what he'd told Splinter the night they had first gone to save April from the Kraang, about looking into April's eyes, and Donnie had told him that he'd just been looking the right way. He'd seen the truth of what she was feeling.

Donnie's words might be able to lie now. But his eyes couldn't And those weren't the eyes of someone who thought of him as just a convenient backup. Those were the eyes of someone who was losing part of his family. Losing a brother.

"D-Donnie," Leo said, struggling to breathe as the ice pressed in around him. And it _hurt_. So badly. But he would never let Donnie see that. Not while there was still breath left in him. "Oh, l-l-little b-brother. I l-l-lo— l-l-l…"

But he couldn't get the word out. He was shaking too hard. With a desperate sound of frustration, Leo tried to bring his hands to cover his face.

But he couldn't. His arms were gone, too, the ice so thick he couldn't even see Donnie's mask around his wrist anymore. And the only thing he could think to say was a soft, tiny, "…oh."

* * *

Donnie threw his arms around his brother, hugging the blue banded turtle close to him. The ice burned into his skin, and he was hoping that the warmth of his body could help melt the ice. It was his last resort.

"I love you so much, big brother," he replied, already knowing what Leo was going to say. He sighed and shivered against Leo, who he knew desperately wanted to wrap his arms around Don. "I love you so much, and I don't want you to die…"

* * *

_Donnie, no… The ice…_

Leo's heart was breaking. .As much as he wished with every fibre of his being that he could hold his little brother against him and not let go, his mind was also screaming at him to get Donnie away, get him to safety, before the ice could consume him, too. And he was so warm…

Leo was so frightened. But he knew Donnie was there with him. He wouldn't leave him alone. And the only thing he had ever _really_ been afraid of was outliving any of his brothers...

He wished he could say something, anything, to comfort his little brother. But the ice had stolen his voice, too. And the last thing he was aware of, before the world was lost to the cold and the dark, was the sound of his little brother's voice…

…telling him that he loved him.

* * *

As soon as the ice covered up Leonardo's head, Donnie let out a wail that would rival the sound of a freight train's horn. He put his head in the frozen crook of Leo's neck, shouting out and cursing the powers that be, even though he didn't believe in them.

Hot tears erupted from his face, washing down his cheeks in an endless cascade. He screamed until his throat went raw, arms still wrapped tightly around his now dead brother.

It was an alien concept, death. Donnie knew and accepted that he himself would one day die, but hadn't been able to come to terms with any of his brothers being hurt, much less their deaths. His howls continued to resonate throughout the lair, and maybe even through most of the sewer tunnels. Donnie was too upset to care.

He should have tried harder. He should have done everything that he could have instead of pacing around panicking like a moron.

He wasn't a genius. He was a fool.

Then Leo's face flashed into his mind, and one arm traveled up to touch the blue mask tied around his neck. He stroked the fabric, the one reminder that he would bare of his elder brother, his leader, and his best friend.

The searing tears rolled down his cheeks, and dripped down onto the ice.

* * *

…the sound of his brother's voice.

Through the cold and the dark, the sound of his brother's voice. Crying out. For him.

**_I don't understand. You are just a duplicate. How does he care this much for you? How could you believe he would?_**

_You _don't_ understand. You don't understand anything about us. I love this Donnie as much as I love my own. I have four siblings and a father at home I will love until the ends of the Earth. Do you really think my heart is so small that I don't have room for one more? Do you really think that about_ him?_ You _don't_ understand. You are _nothing.

_And my brother needs me._

The sound of his brother's voice. And beneath it, the gentle fall of water onto stone. As Leo fought through the cold, and the darkness, the first part of himself he could feel again was his arm. The one that bore a purple mask around its wrist. And though he was still blind, still numb, still frozen, it was that arm that he managed to lift, though the pain was almost unbearable, until his hand could cradle the head of the little brother who wept against him.

And the cold wind whispered once more, and was gone.

* * *

Tears continued to splash on the ice, and Donnie could only imagine them solidifying instantly. His sobs and wails halted however, when a three fingered hand had been pressed against the back of his head. For a split second, he thought it was one of his brothers, but surely they would have come in after hearing all of the previous commotion?

Don stayed perfectly still, his sobs quiet, but the tears still rolling down his face and onto Leo's shoulder. His arms managed to tighten even further around the frozen turtle.

* * *

He was still crying. Leo could feel it, though the only sound now was the soft pattering of the water splashing onto stone. But now his other hand could move again, and Leo fought through the pain to wrap his other arm around his brother. With everything he had left in him, he threw himself against the darkness.

_Don't cry, little brother. I'm coming._

* * *

He had started to throw a miniature tantrum, his fist pounding into Leonardo's frozen, cold chest. His tears rolled down from Leo's shoulder, sliding down said chest quickly. A drop fell onto the floor.

He could feel the other arm, the other arm embracing him, and ignored it. He wanted to be alone with Leo. He wanted to mourn his death alone. He only wanted Leo in this moment.

Little did he know was that he would never be alone.

* * *

He could feel the water pouring off him in sheets now, singing across the floor as Donatello's fists pounded against him. And finally, finally, he was able to open his eyes, and look down at the brother who still wept against his shoulder, Leo's own hand still cradling his head.

Donnie was crying. That wouldn't do. But though he could see again, and the ice was still receding, Leo found that words were still beyond him. So he did the only thing he could. He tightened his arms, trapping his brother against him, and leaned his head against Donnie's.

_I'm here, little brother. I've got you._

* * *

His tears flowed freely still, the hot rain running down Leo's chest now. He felt Leo's head rest against his, but refused to believe it was anything more than an illusion. A phantom. Leo was already too far gone.

He wouldn't believe anything. Not until his brother spoke. But Donnie knew that his brother, this brother, would never speak again.

And suddenly not only did his own emotions pour out of him, but the emotions of the other family. The parallel family that was so much closer than they were here. They had no idea if Leo was even okay, and he had died staying over here. He wept for them. They lost a brother and Splinter had lost a son.

It was too much to handle.

* * *

As Leo looked down at his sobbing brother, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He hadn't doubted. He'd believed in Donnie. And Donnie hadn't let him down. Not for a minute.

"Donnie," he whispered, finding his voice at last. "…you did it."

With nothing holding him up anymore as the last of the ice melted and turned to mist, he felt his knees begin to give way.

* * *

Donnie looked up upon hearing the oh-so-familiar voice of his older brother, and when he saw Leo's face, he wrapped his arms around him tighter.

When Leo's knees gave way, Don fell back with him. Landing on his shell, he kept Leo close. Afraid that if he let go, then Leo would be gone again.

* * *

Leo collapsed bonelessly on top of Donnie, his legs utterly useless, but his arms were working just fine. He laughed breathlessly as he tightened his grip on his brother, feeling Donnie's hold tighten on him in turn as though he would squeeze the breath from Leo's body.

Leo didn't care. Part of him felt like he'd never be warm again, but Donnie radiated life, and warmth, and love, and Leo basked in it like sunlight. He laughed again as the fog over his memory cleared a little, and left him with at least a vague idea of what had just happened. "You did it. You saved me."

* * *

Donnie continued to hug his brother close, moving one arm in order to wrap a blanket around the two of them, in order to keep Leo warm.

He looked up at Leo, his eyes still leaking tears, and let out a small whisper, "I love you, big bro… and you better not die on me again…" He shook his head slightly, "I didn't save you… I couldn't save you…"

* * *

"Yeah. You did," Leo said, stroking Donnie's head gently, shivering beneath the blanket. "I'm…still not quite sure what happened. But that…thing. There was no way to stop the ice. The only thing that would bring me back is if you mourned me like I was truly family, and I believed you could care that much. It didn't think we could." He snorted. "_Man, that thing was dumb."_

* * *

Donnie pressed his forehead against Leo's, his tears slowing now. "How could I not mourn you…? You're my older brother… my _aniki… and I love you so much…"_

He let out a shaky sigh, still refusing to let go of Leonardo.

* * *

Leo grinned. "I _told you it was dumb. Anyway, I'm pretty sure we killed it. I think it __was the ice, and when you melted it…" He rubbed Donnie's head as it pressed against his. "Way to be my hero again, little brother. I __never stopped believing in you, no matter how hard that thing tried to shake me. God help anything stupid enough to mess with__ this family." He sighed, wrapping his arms around Donnie and hugging him close. "I love you, too, __otouto."_

* * *

Donnie whimpered against him, "I'm so sorry I couldn't get you out sooner… I could have done more…"

It was obvious that Donnie was going to bear the guilt of this situation for a while, even if he did save his older brother from this cruel fate.

* * *

"Donnie," Leo said gently, his voice filled with warmth. "Shut up." He held him closer. "You are _not allowed to feel guilty because your science textbooks didn't cover 'evil magic.'" Leo sighed. "Sheesh. If there was an asteroid headed for the Earth, you'd feel guilty about not being able to push the planet out of the way." But he followed the words with a gentle squeeze, to let Donnie know there was no anger in them. "There was no. Way. To get me out. I don't remember that much from when that thing was in my head, but that part was pretty clear."_

He whapped Donnie, very gently, upside the head, before placing that arm back around his brother. "Now stop trying to ruin the victory moment. Gloating is an important leader skill. You saved the day, Donatello. Deal with it."

* * *

Donnie looked into Leo's eyes and gave him a small nod. He moved his arms in order to wrap them around Leo's neck, and sighed. "O-Okay, Leo… I'll stop. Just… I almost lost you… and so did your family, and they wouldn't even know it…"

* * *

"That's better." Leo shivered. "I know, Donnie. I…was scared, too. But it's _never gonna happen. I had to fight my way back at the end, but there was no way I was gonna leave you here to cry. Not while I could do something about it."_

He rubbed Donnie's shell, soothing. "And if it had come to that… you would have found a way to let them know. Somehow, you would have figured it out. This is _your_ brain we're talking about." He tightened his arms again. "But it _didn't_. And it won't. Our family is _too good_ for that."

* * *

Donnie nodded once more, exhaling a small sigh. "I don't think I'd be able to face them… they'd probably hate me forever if they lost you here and I wasn't able to save you."

He smiled, it was weak, but a smile nonetheless. "Our family is pretty great…"

* * *

"No," Leo was able to say with utter conviction. There was absolutely no room for doubt or argument in his voice. If there was one thing he knew, absolutely and completely, it was his family on the other side of the rift. "Trust me. They wouldn't."

He returned the smile, tapping Donnie on the beak with one fingertip. "Best family in the world. Don't you ever forget it." He grinned wider, bringing his hand down to poke Donnie in the shoulder. "Comfiest, too."

* * *

Donnie's smile grew as he nuzzled his head in the crook of Leo's shoulder. "Yeah, you are pretty comfy," he replied, his head resting easily and almost naturally.

* * *

Leo let out a small giggle as Donnie burrowed against him. The feeling was starting to return to the rest of him, and it tickled. "And remember when you said you didn't hug." He patted Donnie's head. "_Told_ you it worked. Who's the smart one now?"

* * *

"We don't hug. My family. Never, really. We're kind of distant, the four of us."

* * *

"We'll work on that," Leo said. "Same family, remember? You said _you_ didn't, and you seem to be managing just fine." He paused thoughtfully. "And I'm pretty sure one of the Mikeys I found is looking for any excuse to hug."

As the feeling began returning to his legs, he took stock of their situation. "One of these days, you know, we're gonna have to have a day that ends with us playing video games or going skateboarding, and not wrapped up together on the floor." He smirked. "Not that I'm complaining. You're awfully warm right now."

* * *

"Depends on the Mikey. The only thing my Mikey has on the brain is his girlfriend."

Donnie nodded, "We could play video games and gorge ourselves on pizza sometime. Sound good?" He pulled Leo up, guiding him towards the couch. "We could even do it now."

* * *

Leo collapsed down onto the couch. Out of the blanket, the shivering had started again. "I'd…really like that," he said. "Fair warning though — I may fall asleep early, and I'm kinda feeling like I'm never gonna be warm again right now, so I may be a little clingy." He grinned. "But I can't think of any other way I want to spend the rest of the day."

* * *

"It doesn't bother me at all… so long as you're next to me."

* * *

"Not planning on going anywhere else," Leo said. He sobered, just a little. "Hey, Donnie?"

* * *

"Yeah, Leo?" he responded, hugging his brother again as he draped a blanket over him once more.

* * *

Leo smiled, leaning into Donnie as the combined warmth of the blanket and his brother began to chase away the tremors, and the terrible aching chills finally began to ease.

"Thank you…for saving my life."


	12. Helping Hand

_This is what happened in Falling just after Cold as Ice._

* * *

Donnie couldn't sleep. Again. He did try, and it wasn't just the threat of Raph's nerve block; he knew that Leo needed him at his best. But eventually he was forced to admit that he wasn't getting back to sleep tonight, and if was going to be awake anyway, he may as well be awake in his lab making adjustments to the rift generator.

Which is the only reason he actually heard Michelangelo cry out in the dark.

Frowning, Donnie leaned in the doorway and looked in on his younger brother. He found Mikey awake as well, eyes wide, staring at Donnie.

"Mikey?" Donnie asked.

It was the only invitation Mikey needed. He was across the room in a heartbeat, slamming into Donnie and locking his arms around him. Donnie staggered, startled, his arms coming reflexively around Mikey.

Mikey's hugs annoyed him sometime. Especially when they came in the middle of a delicate experiment and resulted in the loss of several weeks of careful preparation. But this one was different. Donnie rubbed Mikey's shell until his breathing slowed. "What is it?"

Mikey looked up at him. "I dreamed Leo was in a fight." He smiled a little. "He _won_. I mean, it's _Leo_." A small tremor ran through him. "But it was scary. And cold."

Sighing, Donnie tightened his arms a little around their youngest. "Of course he won. You really think Leo's gonna let anything stop him getting back to us?"

"Nope," Mikey said against his chest. "But…we're gonna bring him back soon, right Donnie?"

Donnie nodded, his expression resolute. "Yeah, Mikey. Real soon." His face softening a little, he loosed his hold and patted Mikey's head. "You wanna come help me work on the machine?"

Mikey thought about it. "By 'help', you mean hang out in the lab and try not to break stuff while you do sciencey things?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Mikey grinned. "Can do."


	13. Cracks, Part 1

_After the whole death and resurrection thing, Leo ended up a little fragile. It's like his mind was cracked. But before he had a chance to heal, events in RP-land came to a head, and the only thing that could really hurt Leo, his family falling apart, happened. It was his Kryptonite, and they basically shot him with it. So Leo broke. He's still dealing with the after-effects of it (until he can connect with that world's Raph, he's super-protective of the others and he can't sleep alone without dreaming of dying again - usually Donnie or April stays with him, but Splinter's sharing Leo-sitting duties now), but this is the moment it happened._

* * *

Leo looked around at the empty lair. Donnie and Raph were both locked away, Mikey was who-knew-where, and his counterpart was currently occupied with some kind of Trumpet infestation, which he felt he should probably go help with sooner or later. But there was something he needed to do first.

He'd really needed to talk to Raph, and then this whole…thing with his alternate family had blown up. And he knew things were different here. He loved the family on this side of the rift, but there were still differences from his own nonetheless. It wasn't his place or his right to get involved here.

But though he'd been trying to put on a brave face, the fact remained that he had _died _yesterday. He touched the purple fabric at his wrist. Donnie had brought him back, yes, but the frozen moments before, when the _thing_ had still clouded his mind and he hadn't known there was a cure, and the subsequent plunge into darkness, had shaken Leo. More than he let on.

And even worse than that was the terror the incident had brought about what might happen to his family on the other side of the rift if he never returned. And though what was happening on this side of the rift was coincidental and unrelated, it found all the fears he had hidden in the deepest recesses of himself and ripped them mercilessly out into the light. And he was tired, and hurt, and cold, and parts of him were _still_ numb, and he _missed_ his family. His family, his brothers, his sister, who fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, and who _needed_ each other, and who were each incomplete without the other.

He took himself off to a quiet corner of the kitchen, where he'd be out of the way and not an inconvenience to anyone.. He leaned against the wall, sliding slowly down it. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he put his head down on them, and finally, quietly, allowed himself a luxury that he very rarely permitted himself on either side of the rift.

Leo let himself cry.


	14. Cracks, Part 2

_Mikey felt Leo die after Cold as Ice, though he wasn't really sure what happened. The others didn't though - because that wasn't what actually bothered Leo most. The breaking of his mind was bad enough that they all felt it over in Falling._

* * *

Raph staggered into the common area. The lights were dim, the lair cold, but none of that really mattered. And he wasn't surprised in the least to see that he wasn't alone.

"You felt that," he said. "Didn't you?"

His expression grim, Donnie nodded. "Yeah."

Raph stepped forward, his fists clenched at his sides. "We've gotta bring him home, Donnie. Now."

Donatello took a deep breath, closing his eyes. A few minutes later, he opened them. "Two days. I need two days to finish the calibrations."

For a minute, Raph just stared at Donnie. Then, he raised his hand, and placed it on Donnie's shoulder. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

Donnie gave him an encouraging smile. "Actually, I could really use some help with purging the refracted ion collectors…" he headed toward the lab, continuing his monologue, already lost in thought and talking more to himself than to anyone else.

Raph hesitated. Then, he raised his arm and beckoned. "Come on. You can help too."

Mikey slipped out of the shadows where he'd been hiding and made his way over to Raph, letting his older brother's arm settle around his shoulders. Raph frowned as he steered Mikey toward the lab. Mikey was shaking. Not that Raph could blame him. He'd never given much credence to the whole spiritual mumbo-jumbo stuff Splinter went on about all the time, and he usually thought about comics when he was supposed to be meditating. But something had gone weird when Leo went through the rift, and there was no denying what apparently all three brothers had just felt.

Leo needed them.

Bad.

So it was time for them to take him back.


	15. Missing You

April took a different route home from school that day, hitching up the backpack containing the supplies that she needed. She walked slowly, taking her time, enjoying the silence for a while.

As she waited for the street light to change, she looked down and smiled. Someone had drawn a hopscotch grid in yellow chalk on the sidewalk at her feet. Backing up, she cleared the grid in one jump as the lights changed, and she made her way down a familiar street.

Digging a seldom-used set of keys out of her bag, she headed up the worn steps and let herself quietly into the building. Putting her training to good use, she made her way quickly up to the apartment, not wanting anyone else to know she was there.

The apartment was still dark, the curtains drawn, and she frowned as she ran a finger along the top of the table next to the door where they kept the bowl for their keys, leaving a dark line in its wake. She really needed to come back and clean one of these days.

Careful not to disturb the silence, she made her way down the hall, easing open the door at the end so she could slip inside.

She passed by the shelves of books, and videos, and relics of the life she'd had…before, heading straight for the closet.

Pushing back the doors, she surveyed the contents within, her eyes drifting over the array of smirks and grins and plastic smiles. With a fond look, April ran one finger over the green hair of Petunia the Destroyer before reaching past her for the reason for her visit.

Her hand closed around it and she pulled it out, standing absolutely still for a moment and looking down at the pompous, self-satisfied smirk of Nebuzarian Armour Captain Ryan.

Closing her eyes, she hugged him briefly to her chest before she pulled a strip of blue fabric from her bag, wrapped him carefully in it, and tucked him into her backpack.

With one last apologetic glance at her abandoned room, she slipped back out the way she came, the empty space on the shelf in the closet the only sign she had been there at all


	16. Mobilizing

_The irony is that it was Raph on that side of the rift that broke him by walking away when Leo needed him most._

* * *

Raph stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. They'd known something was wrong with Leo for a while, ever since Mikey's dream. That was bad enough. But they'd all felt the moment that Leo just…broke. He'd never thought his brother could _ever_ feel like that, but something had torn him apart.

_Something hurt Leo._

He clenched his fists and pushed himself out of bed. If he couldn't sleep, he wasn't going to be the only one.

_Something HURT Leo._

Raph stormed down the hall and slammed open the door to Donnie's lab. His brother started awake instantly, tumbling off the cot he'd been sleeping on next to the rift generator for the past couple days. "Raph," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Wha—"

_"Something hurt Leo!"_

Donnie blinked at him, and picked himself up off the ground. "Yeah, Raph, I know," he said, his brow furrowed, clearly not following him. "We all knew that. But I'm pretty sure he's getting better—"

"You don't understand." Raph stormed over to Donnie. "You said he was in another lair over there." He pointed at the empty wall where the rift had been. "With another version of _our family_over there."

"Yeeeeaaaah…" Donnie said slowly.

Raph grabbed Donnie by the arms, too worked up to even notice as Donnie winced. "So if there's another _me_ over there, _how could I let that happen?_"

Donnie's expression softened and he carefully disengaged, laying his hands on Raph's shoulders. "I don't know," he said.

Donatello's eyes narrowed, and his grip tightened suddenly. "But we'll find out when we ask him tonight."


	17. In Dreams, Part 1

Leo wandered through the lair, ending up by himself in the common room again. The mournful honking down the hall told him that his counterpart was still occupied with the Trumpets. He appeared to be getting them under control, and Leo had offered help, but hadn't heard back yet. Not that he blamed himself. They got along fine — they were the same person, after all — but looking at himself was like looking at a mirror, but backwards, and it was unsettling sometimes. He figured that the other him would let him know if he was needed.

Which left him with a problem. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before, what with the whole accident situation, and he was tired. Really tired. But Donnie and April were off discussing April's new room for some much-needed alone time, and those were the only two family members willing to stay with him while he slept. Raph was still avoiding him, Mikey didn't like to sleep with anyone, and the other him wouldn't work anyway, owing to the aforementioned 'same person' thing. Only another member of the family would keep the dreams away.

So it looked like it was up to Leo to keep himself awake.

Sighing, he went to the TV and picked up a DVD. "Well, Captain Ryan, it looks like it's just you and me."

But he'd underestimated how tired he was.

He made it through one episode, but halfway through the second, he found himself drifting off again.

The ice found him quickly. Leo cried out, trying to run, but it was already over his feet. It was so cold, here in the dark. He jerked against the ice, but it was unyeilding, driving needles of pain deep beneath his skin. He was shivering. He couldn't stop. Frozen in place, he could do nothing but wait as the ice consumed him.

Until a hand grabbed his arm in the darkness.

Leo cried out again as he was yanked toward the shadows, the ice at his feet bringing him up short. Almost immediately, a foot lashed out toward the ice, the violence of the kick shattering it and reducing it to glittering motes around them. Leo found himself dragged free of his imprisonment, and suddenly he was staring into a pair of green eyes, wide, and frightened, and more familiar to him than his own.

"Raph?" Leo whispered.

But, freed from the ice, he was waking. His brother was torn from him, disappearing into the void as the darkness fell away. Leo reached for him, screaming his name.

_"Raph!"_

The jolt as his shell hit the ground threw him fully into waking. He looked around, startled. He must have fallen off the couch….

Leo raised a shaking hand to his face, not surprised when it came away wet. He wiped his face off, the movements sharp and angry, as he pulled himself back up to the couch. And as he stared at the screen in front of him, where Lieutenant Virtue was telling Captain Ryan to replicate his own damn coffee, he let out a shaking sigh.

Raph...


	18. In Dreams, Part 2

Raphael jerked awake, his eyes wide and his breath coming in gasps as he stared at the ceiling of the common room. He hadn't slept the night before… he'd gone to see Donnie… Donnie needed to calibrate the stupid machine, so he'd thought just a little shuteye couldn't hurt…

_Leo..._

Raph rolled to his feet and bolted for the lab. If the damn machine wasn't ready to go by the end of the day, he was going to beat the thing into submission with his bare hands.


	19. Just Another Night

_One of the strangest and most fortuitous things to happen in the RP-verse was the arrival of SAINW!Michelangelo, who ended up with this stupidly awesome chemistry with Falling!Leo. There are a couple of major threads with Mikey, and this one is the first. All of the Mikey parts are wtf-skittens/futureorangeturtle on tumblr, and Donatello is ninjaturtledonnie. Leo was still me. _

* * *

**Just Another Night**

The night was dark and overcast, just how Michelangelo liked it. It made it easier to avoid the Foot patrols as he made his way through the city. Not that it was particularly difficult to avoid them in the first place for someone of his abilities - the lack of overt resistance lately had made the Foot overconfident and sloppy. They relied more on their reputations and their weapons to keep the general populace in line, rather than any particular effort or skill on their part.

Michelangelo crouched in the shadows on top of a building as yet another Foot patrol marched along the street below. His hand rested on the nunchucks tucked into his belt; it was so tempting to drop down amidst them and take them all out, paying back some of the pain and misery they'd inflicted. But it would cause too much trouble in the long run, and he had more important things to do. He let out a faint sigh and waited for them to pass by, entertaining himself with imagining all the different ways he could've taken them down, each one more flashy and flamboyant than the last.

When they were well past, Michelangelo started moving again, heading for an area on the outskirts of the city. He was one of the Resistance's best scouts, able to move undetected through the city, take down any opposition he might run into, and then get away safely. There had been recent rumours of the Foot setting up a fuel dump, and April wanted confirmation of its existence and location before she sent in Angel's commandos to take care of it.

Once, he and his brothers would have done the job themselves, but that had been before Leonardo and Raphael had gone their separate ways. Michelangelo shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. Though it had been years now, his brothers' departure - their abandonment, and his own failure to hold the remnants of their family together - still hurt.

As he leapt from one building to another, a flicker of something - light, movement, he wasn't sure - flashed in the corner of his eye. As soon as he'd landed, he dropped into a crouch and moved cautiously to the edge of the roof, trying to spot what had caught his attention without being spotted himself.

At first there didn't seem to be anything unusual or out of the ordinary. The empty, silent buildings out here were little more than dark silhouettes against the cloudy night sky, their edges lit only by the dim glow of the city lights further away. Nobody was around, and there was no sign of movement. Still, Michelangelo was sure he'd seen something. So he watched, and listened, and waited.

After a few minutes, there was a brief flicker of light, reflecting up off the wall of a nearby building. It didn't seem like torchlight, or firelight, or any other sort of light that Michelangelo could think of though. Curious, he moved closer, slipping from one shadow to the next with every sense on alert. Soon, he was on the roof above where the light had seemed to come from. He paused for a moment to listen, but couldn't hear anything unusual.

Moving with silent caution, he peered over the edge of the roof into the alley below. It looked like an ordinary alley, complete with faded graffiti and a rusted old dumpster near the entry. He tried to find the source of the light, but couldn't spot anything that might have caused it.

Suddenly the light flickered again, and this time he was in a position to see the source. A thin, glowing, jagged line forked down the opposite wall, like white and blue and green lightning that lingered for a few seconds before fading away. Michelangelo watched with startled fascination, wondering what could have caused such a phenomenon. He looked around to make sure nobody was nearby; once he was certain the coast was clear, he dropped silently down into the alley itself, unable to contain his curiosity.

The wall showed no after-effects of the strange lightning, and its temperature was cool beneath his skin as he cautiously laid his hand over where the lightning had been. He crouched to examine the ground of the alley, looking for some sort of projector or device, but there was nothing.

Suddenly the wall flickered with the strange lightning again, and Michelangelo quickly straightened up, ready to move. An echoing flicker came from the wall behind him, and as he spun around to face it there was a sudden, blinding flash and deafening bang. He was blasted off his feet and sent flying backwards through the air, his eyes watering and ears ringing. Wait, wasn't the wall behind me? Why haven't I hit it yet?

Time seemed to simultaneously slow down and speed up as he continued to hurtle through strangely empty space, and he realised he couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe—

— then there was another flash and bang, and Michelangelo smashed into something hard and rough and unyielding. His shell absorbed most of the impact, but didn't stop his head from slamming back into whatever he'd hit. His world exploded in pain and he fell limply to the ground, one last, fractured thought flashing through his mind before darkness claimed him.

… 'm sorry, April…

Michelangelo awoke slowly, finding himself lying face-down on the ground, his head pounding in time with his heart. He bit back a groan and remained unmoving for the moment, listening for anything nearby. Apart from a slight ringing in his ears, all he could hear were the familiar sounds of the city at night; traffic, and people, and distant, muted music. He relaxed for a moment, letting out the breath he'd been holding - then tensed again as he remembered that because of the Shredder's curfew, these weren't sounds he'd actually heard in years.

What the shell is going on…?

He managed to get to his knees, his movements slow and careful as he fought down a wave of dizziness and nausea. Once he was sure he wasn't going to throw up any time soon, he looked around to get his bearings, blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear his blurry vision. Why hello there, Mr. Concussion, I haven't had a visit from you for a while, how lovely to see you again… not.

He definitely wasn't where he'd been before… whatever had happened. Instead, he was in yet another alley, in a narrow space between the wall and a lopsided pile of crates and boxes that conveniently blocked him from easy view. Still, he couldn't stay there long - there were people walking past the mouth of the alley every few minutes, and he also needed to get a better view of his surroundings so he could figure out where the shell he was.

First, though… he gingerly felt around the throbbing ache on the back of his head with his fingertips, then winced and pulled his hand away again, his fingers damp and sticky with half-congealed blood. The worst of it seemed to be near the top of his head, just above the knot in his torn and sodden bandanna. At least the bandanna seemed to have helped stem the bleeding somewhat. Well, that explains Mr. Concussion… good thing I've got such a thick skull.

He hauled himself to his feet, bracing himself against the wall as his head spun and his stomach lurched. Once he was up he took a moment to just breathe, grimacing slightly at his aching back and ribs. At least his arm and legs seemed uninjured, apart from some minor bruising.

Right… time to get roofside and figure out where the shell I am. Fortunately, one of the alley walls boasted a fire escape, though Michelangelo had to use some of the crates to reach it. His head violently protested anything more than slow, careful movements, so a trip that normally would've taken him mere seconds instead took several minutes. He clung to the shadows as much as he could, freezing in position whenever he heard any movement nearby.

Finally he made it to the roof without being spotted and slipped into the shadows beneath a rooftop water tank. He leant against the water tank's supports and closed his eyes as he waited for the pounding in his head to die down a little. After a minute or two, he opened his eyes and looked out over the city, wincing slightly at the bright lights.

From what Michelangelo could see, it was definitely New York - but it wasn't his New York. It reminded him of what New York had been like over thirty years ago, before everything had gone wrong…

Michelangelo forced those thoughts away and returned his attention to his immediate situation, continuing to gaze out over the city from his shadowy shelter as a brisk breeze played with the ragged, bloodstained tails of his bandanna. He was injured, tired, in unfamiliar territory that was still just familiar enough to throw him off, with no idea of where was safe or what enemies to expect… and completely alone.

So… what do I do now?

* * *

Leo shivered as he raced along the rooftops back toward the lair. He'd needed the time at the playground near April's place, just to reconnect with himself and hear himself think. Since Raph had helped him heal his fractured mind, he'd occasionally needed a moment or two to himself to figure out exactly what normal felt like. Quietly, he prayed to whatever forces might be out there listening that the rift would stay quiet for once and refrain from throwing anything else at him.

As he rolled onto the rooftop nearest the alley that would take him back to the lair, he skidded abruptly to a halt. A dark shape, heavily armoured, lurked in the shadow of the water tower.

Oh, no you don't. Leo quietly drew his katana, staring down the intruder in silent challenge. You're not getting close to my family.

* * *

Michelangelo wasn't sure how much time had passed as he leant against the water tower support, trying to come up with some sort of plan. At least his ears had finally stopped ringing and his vision had mostly cleared. Maybe I should go to the Lair… assuming it even exists here. But it might be compromised already, and I'm in no shape for a fight…

A nearby scrape of sound snapped him out of his thoughts and he tensed, his hand instinctively going to the nunchucks at his hip as he looked around warily. It didn't take him long to spot a shadowy figure lurking nearby, the streetlight from below glinting off the edge of a blade. He'd obviously been seen.

He quickly spun around to face the shape fully— then staggered as the sudden movement sent another wave of dizziness crashing over him. Damn, damn, damn… He just managed to stay on his feet, leaning his back against the tank support again as he drew his nunchucks and held the weapon ready. Good ol' turtle luck running true to form…

"Stay back if you know what's good for ya," he growled, trying to sound as threatening as possible but unable to quite hide the rasp to his voice. Heh, I sound like Raph. Hopefully my bark sounds worse than my bite is gonna be… man, I really don't wanna have to bite anyone.

* * *

Leo smirked. "I was gonna say the same thing." But he held his ground. He'd seen the stranger stagger in the shadows of the tower, and didn't miss the fact that he was relying heavily on the tower for support. If the stranger was injured, it seemed dishonourable to attack. Maybe he'd been mistaken.

But with his family at stake, he wasn't going to take risks, either.

"Look, just go back where you came from, and we'll forget you were ever here, okay?"

* * *

"Easier said than done," Michelangelo muttered, a little louder than he'd intended. Good one, Mike, just blab your mouth… oh well, too late to regret it now. He let out a faint sigh and let his hand drop back to his side, nunchucks held loosely. "Look, I don't want any trouble…"

Then something about the stranger's voice and phrasing twigged something in his mind, and he blinked. It almost sounded like Leonardo, but… different. And younger? He tried to get a better look at the stranger, but couldn't make out much more than the silhouette backlit by the streetlights below. Still, there were the swords, and the outline of what could possibly be a shell, and… bandanna tails?

He tilted his head ever so slightly to one side, confused and wary. "Wait… who are you?"

* * *

Leo stared at the figure in the shadows. It wasn't possible; the shape of the shadow was wrong, and the voice was off, and the armour was just weird…. but when the figure beneath the tower dropped the gruff overtone from his voice, it was eerily familiar. Wrong… and yet familiar.

And then the shadow-figure tilted his head. And no matter what universe they were in, Leo knew that head tilt.

Smiling, he lowered his katana, taking a step forward. He'd left all his brothers behind in the lair, but he'd run into enough duplicates lately that this was actually starting to feel normal.

"I'll give you three guesses, little—"

His words died in his throat as he drew close enough to make out more detail, and his eyes went wide.

Something was really, really wrong.

"Mikey…?"

* * *

If he'd been able to, Michelangelo would've backed up as the stranger approached, not wanting them to get a good look at him. But the leg of the water tower was in the way, and the world was still wavering, and at least he'd lowered his weapons and didn't seem intent on skewering him any time soon—

— and then the stranger said his name. Michelangelo froze, his eyes widening as well.

"… Leo?" He blinked again, able to make out more details now that he was closer. Can't be Leo, too skinny, too tall… but it sure as shell sounds like Leo… "Dude, if that is you… you've lost weight."

* * *

Leo took another step forward, trying to make out more details in the light. He was too stocky, and his feet looked wrong, though the joke was certainly Mikey…

And then the light from a passing police helicopter briefly threw the rooftop into sharp relief, and Leo gasped, breaking one of the cardinal rules Splinter had drilled into them over and over to never, ever do, as his katana slipped from his hands and dropped to the roof at his feet.

His arm…

In that moment, it didn't matter that this Mikey was radically different from any that Leo had ever seen before. It didn't matter that he was more heavily armoured than the Foot. All that mattered was that someone had done… that… to his baby brother.

And though he was no longer losing his mind, the amplified protectiveness of the rift was still in full force, driving Leo blindly forward, hands outstretched, as though he could somehow fix everything that was so terribly wrong.

"Mikey!"

* * *

Michelangelo winced as the chopper went past, the bright light stinging his eyes. Great, so much for paying attention to my surroundings and being stealthy. He instinctively shifted a little further into the shadows beneath the tower, hoping that whoever was in the chopper hadn't seen him.

It quickly became obvious though that Leonardo had seen him, as his katana clattered to the ground. Michelangelo wasn't sure what shocked him most - the fact that Leo - if it really was Leo - had dropped his katana, or that he was now advancing like an overprotective mother bear.

Either that, or Leo was intending to strangle him. That wouldn't surprise him much, really. Though I haven't even done anything to warrant said strangling yet - not that I know of, anyway, and if I did do something, man, it's so unfair that I don't even know what it was!

Michelangelo hastily raised his hand in a warding gesture, nunchucks still clutched tightly but non-threateningly. He sure as shell wasn't going to drop his weapons any time soon. "Whoa, whoa, chill, dude! It's okay, chill!" Leo or not, he didn't want anyone getting too close to him until he figured out what exactly was going on. Running wasn't really an option at this point.

* * *

Leo stopped as Mikey — if it really was Mikey, but it had to be; he felt like Mikey — raised a hand in warning. His gaze swept over him, and though he wasn't about to start crying again — he wasn't broken anymore, after all — he could feel his distress written across his face.

"Mikey what… how…" he gestured helplessly. "What happened to you? I—"

"You are correct, Kraang. The ones known as the turtles are in the place known as here."

Leo whirled in horror, diving for his katana, but a laser blast sent them skittering across the roof. And he couldn't leave Mikey. Leo glared, arms out protectively as he backed toward Mikey, shuriken in his hands. The droids were swarming over the edge of the roof.

"Kraang. One of the ones known as the turtles exhibit differential temporal signatures than the ones previously known as the ones known as the turtles."

"One of the ones who are not the ones previously known as the ones known as the turtles shows sign of great dimensional differentiation, Kraang."

"Acknowledged, Kraang. Kill the one known as leader. The other may prove useful to Kraang."

Leo groaned. "Aw, crap."

* * *

Okay, it had to be Leonardo, or at least a Leo. Only a Leo could look that distressed and guilty about something he had nothing to do with. But before Michelangelo could reply, or even think about how he would reply, they were rudely interrupted by… Kraang droids? Evil Kraang droids? With laser guns and some kind of speech tic, natch. Well, shell. Nobody's killing anybody on my watch.

Michelangelo swiftly hooked his nunchucks back on his belt and pulled one of the small red and black capsules off the bandoleer across his chest. "Leo, shield your eyes!" He hurled the capsule to the ground between Leo and the oncoming Kraang droids and quickly closed his own eyes.

The capsule exploded on impact with a blinding flash that was visible even through his eyelids, belching out thick clouds of dark smoke that immediately engulfed the rooftop. The smoke from the specially designed capsules cut visibility down to almost zero and also messed with electronic sensors; this would hopefully give him and Leonardo time to make their escape, or at least even the odds a little.

* * *

Leo started at the cry behind him, but this Mikey was a lot more decisive than his own, and there was an edge in his voice that told Leo it was better not to question. His arms were over his eyes just before the flash bomb went off. Instantly, he was moving, the shuriken leaving his hands and embedding themselves in the nearest Kraang as he dove for his katana.

He rolled to his feet, listening for the telltale whirring of the mechanical bodies as he moved through the smoke, reaping through droids as he went. They were not taking Mikey. Any Mikey. Not as long as he lived.

"Mikey," he called, slicing through a droid that came at him through the darkness. "You still with me?"

* * *

"'Course I am, bro," Michelangelo replied with a huff, sounding almost offended. "I'm not gonna leave you behind and let you have all the fun!" He heard a Kraang hit the ground nearby and dove towards it, his head throbbing and stomach lurching with the sudden movement. Still, he managed to find the bisected droid and knelt beside it, scrambling around in the smoke until his hand closed on what he'd been searching for.

The Kraang droid's laser gun.

It took him a moment to figure out how to use it one-handed, but it wasn't too different from all the other types of alien tech he'd encountered before. He stayed on his knees, not trusting his balance with his head still spinning - but at least this was a weapon he could use without having to move too much. "Hit the deck, Leo!"

With that, he opened fire, aiming at the flashes of pink light from the muzzles of the other Kraang guns as they fired, glowing through the smoke.

* * *

He had no idea what Mikey was doing, but hearing the urgency in his voice, Leo dropped to the ground. An instant later, he stared agape as the laser fire cut through the darkness, utterly decimating the Kraang.

As the smoke cleared, revealing a litter of vivisected droid shells across the rooftop, Leo struggled back to his feet and turned back to the strange version of Mikey. Eyes widening, he drew back and pitched a katana as hard as he could toward the alternate brother.

It passed straight over Mikey's shoulder into the chest of the Kraang droid standing behind him.

* * *

Michelangelo instantly flattened himself to the ground as Leo's sword hurtled past, dropping the Kraang gun in the process. He glanced over his shoulder as he heard the droid behind him topple backwards with the katana impaled through it, then looked back at Leo and gave him a thumbs-up, grinning. "Nice one."

He managed to get back to his feet without falling over - adrenaline could work wonders sometimes - and pulled the blade free of the droid corpse, then carefully made his way towards Leo, holding the hilt out to him. "Here—"

Movement some distance behind Leonardo caught Michelangelo's attention, and for a brief moment his eyes opened wide in surprise. He suddenly shouldered Leo to one side, spinning to place himself between his brother and the swarm of newly-arrived Kraang droids standing on the next roof over, just as they opened fire. "Hngh—!"

Pain exploded in the back of his left shoulder, and there was the smell of burning flesh and shell as he staggered, stubbornly sheltering Leonardo with his own body. "Get outta here…!"

* * *

"Mikey!" His brother's name ripped from his throat as Mikey fell hard against him. He tried to shove past Mikey, to protect him from the hail of laser fire that streamed from the opposite roof, but his more solid, stocky brother wasn't budging. He let out a scream of frustration as Mikey once again blocked his attempt to get past.

"I am not leaving without you!" He grabbed a smoke bomb from his belt and hurled it at the ground, sheathing his katana and grabbing Mikey's arm in an unbroken, fluid move. "Come on!"

* * *

Michelangelo bit back an acidic comment — this is not my Leo this is a different Leo, of course he's not gonna abandon me again, c'mon Mike just hold it together — and let Leonardo steer him swiftly through the smoke bomb towards the edge of the roof furthest from the Kraang.

The Kraang continued firing, but at least now they couldn't see through the smoke and no more shots actually hit, though some seared past uncomfortably close. It didn't feel like any of the shots that had hit his shell had gone all the way through, but his left shoulder felt like it was on fire and his head was pounding fit to burst. The world was tilting crazily and blurring in and out of focus, and even with Leonardo holding onto his arm he could barely walk straight.

So it came as no real surprise to Michelangelo when he completely missed his footing at the edge of the building and, unable to recover his balance quickly enough, pitched forward and fell off the roof. He immediately let go of Leo so as not to pull the other turtle with him and just twisted around to fall shell-first, wrapping his arm protectively around his head.

There was a clang as his back hit the fire escape on the side of the building, slowing his descent, but before he could make a grab for it he was falling again. A moment later he hit the ground on his shell and instinctively rolled to lessen the impact, still shielding his abused head with his arm. He finally came to a halt up against the opposite wall of the alley and just lay there, trying desperately not to pass out.

* * *

Leo managed to get Mikey as far as the edge of the roof, but one of the blindly-fired shots from the other roof managed to graze his arm just as they reached it, distracting him enough that he didn't see Mikey going over the edge until it was too late.

He didn't cry out this time, much as he wanted to as he watched his poor brother ricochet down the fire escape. Silence was essential when making your escape under cover of the smoke. Though Raph had been right — falling down a fire escape really wasn't very silent.

He dropped next to Mikey, crouching next to him long enough to ensure he was still breathing. With a quick sigh of relief, Leo attempted a game smile. "Well, at least you landed next to the way out." He grabbed the manhole cover next to Mikey, prying it up and moving it aside.

"Sorry about this," he muttered, and grabbed Mikey beneath the shoulders, hauling him over to the hole and dropping him through it. He could already hear the Kraang moving in on their position. Following quickly, he secured the cover back on the manhole and dropped down to where Mikey leaned against the wall, groaning quietly.

Leo threw himself over Mikey, one hand braced on the wall next to him, the other on Mikey's shoulder, shielding his big little brother with his own body as the sound of the Kraang moved above them. Leo's breath was coming fast, and he lowered his head, his forehead almost touching Mikey's, bracing to defend them both if they were discovered.

But slowly, the sounds of pursuit moved off, and Leo let out a shaking breath before pushing away from the wall. "Good thing we—"

He broke off, staring at his hand in horror. The tape around his fingers on the hand that had been touching Mikey was stained red in the dim light of the maintenance lamps. His gaze snapped down to his brother, only seeing the blood staining his bandanna for the first time. "You're hurt!"

* * *

The events after hitting the ground happened in a bit of a blur; Michelangelo was vaguely aware of being moved and then falling again, instinct making him once again roll when he hit the ground. He rested against the sewer wall with a faint groan, idly grateful that he hadn't landed in anything too disgusting.

He then went silent as the shadow of his little big brother loomed protectively over him, one hand resting on his shoulder. The contact was reassuring even though it wasn't exactly painless, and Michelangelo focused on it grimly like a lifeline to consciousness, screwing his eyes shut to stop his shifting vision from making him sick.

He held his breath as he listened to the Kraang moving around overhead, though the sounds seemed to be fading in and out just like his vision had been. Finally, the Kraang moved on and he relaxed, letting the held air out in a silent huff. "Your breath smells like sardines," he muttered absently as Leonardo withdrew.

As Leonardo started talking he blinked rapidly, trying to focus on him. The dim lighting actually helped - it didn't sting his eyes, and in a moment he could just make out Leonardo's horrified expression, as well as the graze on his arm, a darker patch against his skin.

"So're you," he pointed out with a little nod towards Leonardo's arm, his voice raspy, then shrugged his shoulder. "It happens. I've had worse." Way to state the obvious there, Mike. Not being very comforting, here. He attempted a reassuring smile, though it felt more like a grimace. "Heh, you should see the other guys… oh wait, you did." Damnit, Mike, focus! We can't stay here… His head throbbed, his shoulder burned, and he was starting to seriously ache all over.

"Now c'mon… we should get going. Not safe to stay here much longer… in case those walking toasters come back." He braced himself against the wall and started trying to get back to his feet, fighting down a wave of pain and nausea and gritting his teeth with the effort.

* * *

Oh, this is not good. There was definitely something wrong with this Mikey's head, as well as all the injuries he'd gotten trying to protect Leo. And that made him angry.

That's my job.

He grabbed Mikey's good arm as he tried to struggle to his feet, drawing it around his shoulders and grabbing Mikey around the waist with this other hand, taking as much of his brother's weight as he could.

"We're not far from the lair," he said. "It'll be safe there…." He trailed off. This close, all of the differences between this Mikey and the one he knew came painfully clear. The physical differences were one thing — the feet were just strange, and he'd always been taller than Mikey, but these proportions just felt weird. And aside from the weariness of his injuries and the— the— he couldn't even bring himself to think about the most glaring difference right now. Even coming close to the thought of someone hurting his baby brother like that drove him too close to the edge of rage, which wasn't what he needed right now.

But this close, something else became apparent.

"Mikey… how old are you?"

* * *

Michelangelo had to fight back the urge to pull away from Leonardo's helping hands - it had been a long time since he'd had a brother help him up. And this Leo was so different to his own, in obvious and not so obvious ways - it was a little freaky. Like those huge hands and feet. Huge. Absolutely gigantic.

But Leo's concern was clear, so he allowed himself to be helped up, though he tried to lean on his brother as little as possible. His shell was rough and weathered beneath Leo's arm, the edges cracked and jagged scars running across it from the left side almost all the way over to the right. "Not far is good…" he murmured, taking a moment once he was up to catch his breath, his arm draped across his little big brother's shoulders.

At Leonardo's question, Michelangelo blinked, then let out a hoarse little chuckle. "Now, that's nothing to be asking a lady on the first date," he drawled with a crooked grin, the question striking him as unreasonably amusing. Probably the concussion talking… "You could at least buy me dinner first." Okay, definitely the concussion talking. I don't think I could eat anything without hurling right now…

As they started moving carefully down the sewer tunnel, with Leonardo steering them both, he hummed thoughtfully to himself, still considering the question. "Shell, who keeps count any more?" He paused again, concentrating on stepping over an uneven patch on the sewer floor. "… Somewhere past thirty. Definitely well over thirty. Maybe even forty-something." Another pause as they navigated some steps. "Haven't hit fifty yet, though. At least, I don't think so. Probably would've noticed." He blinked again and gave Leonardo a startled look of realisation. "Shell, I'm old. When did that happen?"

* * *

Leo couldn't help laughing a little at the joke, despite his concern. Strange or not, this was definitely still Mikey, though the joke was a lot more mature than Mikey's usually were. "Why are you always the lady," he muttered under his breath.

But his smile faded a little as Mikey kept talking. "That's a long way from fifteen," he said quietly. "But hey, if what Donnie says is right and some turtles live to be two-hundred, then you're just entering your prime. You're not old."

Despite himself, because he could tell that Mikey had been through a lot, and that his touch for some reason made him uneasy, his arm tightened around Mikey's waist a little. "And older or not, you're still my baby brother. The rift has a habit of throwing versions of my brother at me when either I need them or they need me, and since I'm actually doing okay for once, I figure that means it's your turn to be taken care of."

* * *

"Bro, I will always be in my prime. Even when I'm old," Michelangelo drawled with conviction, then winced slightly as a misstep jostled his aching head. "Except for today. Today has nnnnot been one of my better days."

As Leonardo's arm tightened around his waist, Michelangelo instinctively tightened his own arm around Leo's shoulders for a moment in a return squeeze. "Heh. Haven't been called baby bro in a long time… 'skinda weird bein' called that by someone prob'ly thirty years younger'n me…" He trailed off, his eyes drifting half-closed as he leant a little more of his weight against Leo's supporting side. What little energy he had left was visibly flagging, his steps slowing down.

He was silent for a long moment, then blinked and turned his head to look at Leo again as if his words had only just registered, his expression bemused. "Wait, rift? Like… a jaggedy line of green an' blue lightning on a wall kinda rift?" Since his intact arm was currently occupied over Leo's shoulders, Michelangelo instinctively tried to gesture with the stump of his other arm to indicate the lightning line — then let out a soft hiss as the movement jostled the deep laser burn in the back of the shoulder. "Ow. Ow ow. Bad idea. Bad Mike."

* * *

Leo frowned. Despite the fact that this Mikey was so much older than he was, everything he did still screamed the fact that he was Mikey. Which meant that his distress was pushing Leo into full-on mother-hen mode, despite the fact that this particular brother was old enough to have raised him.

"Yeah, you look like you've been hit by a bus. For real, and not just a lie you're telling Splinter to cover the fact that you got beat up by a dork wearing a modified music player." He stopped moving and leaned his big little brother against a wall. "We're resting for a few. We're close enough to the lair now that I can just call for help if we run into anything else down here. We can move again when you've had a chance to catch your breath."

He sat cross legged on the floor and smiled up at Mikey to join him. "And to pass the time, I can tell you a story. Settle in, _shin-niisan_. I bet it's been a long time since anyone did this for you."

* * *

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus," Michelangelo mock-grumbled. "A bus full of bricks. Then had it back over me, then hit me again. And park on my head. And— wait, music player?" As Leonardo stopped and leant him against the wall, Michelangelo eyed him dubiously. "You'll hafta explain that one to me sometime, bro."

When Leonardo sat down, he hesitated, uncertain. He knew, just knew, deep in his bones, that if he sat down now he wouldn't be able to get up or moving under his own power again any time soon, even with help. His head throbbed, his shoulder burned, his whole body ached, and he was just so tired. Still…

"… Ahh, shell, I could never resist a good story. Or bribery of any kind, really." He carefully slid down the wall to sit at its base, his legs folding beneath him. "Just… uh. If I fall asleep… don't wake me up suddenly, okay?" He gave Leonardo a lopsided little smile, though his eyes behind his bandanna were serious. "It… probably won't end well."

* * *

Leo had seen the look in Mikey's eyes before. Sometimes, on very rare occasions, when they were alone, Leo had been able to persuade Splinter to tell him a little about his life when he'd been human, and in the military.

"Deal," Leo said, patting Mikey gently on the arm. "So this is a story of family. And one family member in particular who could never resist playing with alien technology, despite the fact that he ought to know better."

Leo folded his hands in his lap. "So one day, this brother decided it would be a great idea to build a machine to try to track the Kraang — they'd kidnapped their friend April's dad, and he wanted to try to help get him back. But his machine accidentally ripped a hole in the fabric of time and space. And when his big brother showed up to yell at him about getting temporal anomalies all over his nice, clean lair, the machine exploded and sent a giant piece of metal hurtling toward April. So the big brother pushed her out of the way, and got knocked through instead."

Leo sighed. "So now the big brother is stuck here until the younger brother rebuilds the machine and brings him back. Fortunately, he found an almost identical version of his family to stay with here. But the rift seems to have made some cracks in reality on this side of it, and the older brother keeps wandering through them and running into other versions of his brothers, or they bring other versions of his brothers to him. Still, it's all worked out okay in the end. So far."

* * *

Michelangelo settled in as comfortably as he could, careful to keep his head and shoulder well away from the sewer wall. "Heh, that family member sounds familiar…" he commented quietly, a wistful expression briefly flickering across his face before he then fell silent again to listen to the rest of the story. His eyes drifted half-shut as Leonardo's words washed over him like a soothing breeze. He frowned a little at the mention of Kraang and kidnapping, then smiled slightly for a moment at April's name. He hadn't been able to wear his emotions so openly for a long time, and it felt… surprisingly good.

"Hmm. That big brother sounds kinda familiar too…" Michelangelo cracked one eye open enough to grin at Leonardo, then let it drift closed again as his expression became thoughtful. "Rips in the space-time fabric… continu-thingy. 'Splains things," he murmured. "So you don't really… belong here either, huh?"

* * *

"Not exactly," Leo said, his hand coming to cover the purple mask woven into the wrappings around his wrist. "But like I said, I managed to find a pretty good version of our family over here. They're a little weird sometimes, and magic works here, but if there's one thing I've learned…" his hand tightened over the mask, and he looked at Mikey. "Family's family."

He finally brought himself to really look at the stump of his brother's arm. At the scars that crossed his body and his shell. "I know that sometimes people feel better if they don't have to talk about these things," he said at last. "But if you have a story to tell too, I'll listen." He tilted his head. "Or we can save the stories, and I can just get you to Donnie to get us both patched up. Your call."

* * *

"Magic works here…?" Michelangelo considered that for a moment. "Huh. Well, I've seen stranger, I suppose." Magic, and space, and superheroes, and alternate dimensions, and all sorts of other strange things that really made more sense in comic books or something. And he should know - he'd been an expert at comic books.

"Family's family, huh?" His expression went slack, and for a brief moment he looked old, and weary, and broken — then he managed a faint smile and the rest all disappeared beneath it. "That's a lesson worth learning. Hold onto it. As for stories…" He closed his eyes, trying to collect his thoughts, but it was getting harder and harder to form anything coherent. "… Don't think you'd like most of them," he muttered eventually. "Don't think I'm in much condition to tell any right now, anyway. They'd probably come out all… goobledegook."

He opened his eyes again and gave Leonardo an apologetic look. "I think…" He hesitated a moment. It'd been thirty years since he'd last seen Donatello, and even if this world's version of Don was as different as this new Leo, he still wasn't sure how he'd react to him. Still, only one way to find out - and at this rate, he might not even be awake for it. "I think getting patched up sounds like a great idea."

* * *

Leo was painfully aware of the moment the wounded, broken expression crossed his brother's face. He didn't know what had happened, but he was guessing it was bad, and it had involved the family in some way. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward, very careful to avoid touching his big little brother's injuries in any way, and just held him. Just for a moment. Not expecting anything in return, just to let him know that Leo was there.

Then he let go, and rose to his feet. "Doctor Donnie it is then. Can you still walk with my help, or do I need to carry you? I think I can get you at least that far."

* * *

A hug had been the last thing Michelangelo had been expecting, and he froze for a brief moment, more out of surprise and shock than anything else. Then he relaxed into it, a somewhat silly grin spreading across his face, and let out a low, quiet laugh. The grin stayed in place even after Leo withdrew, and Michelangelo raised a brow ridge at him in amusement. "Dude. I dunno what that was for, but I'd have hugged you back anyway, 'cept, uh…" He glanced down at himself with wry self-depreciation. "Not so great at the hugging these days, and I don't think my limbs are working too good right now anyway."

Still, he tried to push himself up to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall for support even though it aggravated his poor abused back. "Gonna give this… walking thing a try again though… my manly macho pride demands it!" Even if my poor fleshmeats hate the idea… shut up, fleshmeats. You're not the boss of me!

* * *

Leo smiled back at Mikey. "Sorry, the family on my side of the rift is big on hugging. Took them a while to get used to it over here. And one arm is more than enough. You'll learn."

He watched with a critical eye as Mikey pushed himself up, noting the trembling in his limbs. Leo had been there not too long ago, and he knew how humiliating it was to lose control of yourself. But he also knew one of the good ways to defuse it.

"Macho pride, huh. I thought you were a lady." He moved to his brother's side. "Still, it's a free and equal society. I guess a lady is entitled to be anything she wants to be." He prodded Mikey's arm. "But how about a compromise? You let me share the load." He grinned again. "Us dimensional travellers gotta stick together."

* * *

It took Michelangelo longer to get back to his feet than it had before, and once he was finally up he leant heavily against the wall, eyes closed as he panted slightly and tried to get the world to stay still. Shell, that took far too much effort… still, no way I'm letting myself get carted around by someone young enough to be my offspring if I can help it!

Once he'd caught his breath he opened his eyes again and grinned crookedly at his little big brother. "Betchya I could hug you with a leg and an arm… well, once the world stops spinning every time I move my head, anyway."

When Leo moved to his side and prodded his arm he willingly lifted it and rested it across Leo's shoulders. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone to lean on, literally and figuratively, and he hadn't realised how much he'd missed it. "Hey, I can be a macho lady! The macho is me… most of the time, and the lady part happens when I put on a dress. I look damn fine in a dress, just so you know," he confided in a mock-whisper. Damn it, Mike, you're rambling again. "And I am all about the load sharing. Just not, uh, so much of the load-bearing right now. And if we end up actually sticking together, that could make things kinda awkward. We could get stuck in doorways, and Donnie might have to make one of his crazy contraptions to get us out, and then we're all doomed." He paused for a moment, blinking rapidly. "Wow, I really AM rambling."

* * *

"Yeah, you are," said Leo, as Mikey's weight came down on him. "Been there too, actually. We'll practice the hugging when I'm more certain you're not going to pass out on me…" he couldn't help grinning. "With or without a dress. Your choice."

He patted Mikey's shell and began to move toward the lair, half dragging his groggy brother with him. As amusing as it was, the rambling was concerning him. "Just stay with me a little while longer, bro. You can pass out as soon as we're in range of safety and Donnie's medical knowledge, okay? I'll even stay with you, so that you don't have to wake up alone.

* * *

"Bet you'd look good in a dress too," Michelangelo mumbled absently, not really paying attention to what he was actually saying. He was too busy concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Left foot, right foot, right fo— no, wait, left foot again, THEN right foot. Man I hope we don't run into any Foot. Feet. Heh, I have feet. You go, feet! "You're leggier'n my Leo. Not as thick-waisted, either…"

By now he was pretty much running on fumes and willpower alone, his vision going fuzzy around the edges. "I ain't goin' anywhere…" He meant it, too, despite his increasing grogginess. He'd hang on to consciousness with his teeth if he had to.

* * *

"We'll have to borrow a dress from April."

Leo grinned, though he was practically carrying Mikey at this point anyway. "You're lucky… I'm so… tall," he panted. Almost there. The door was right up ahead. "Makes this… a lot… easier…"

He reached out for the door. "Wherever you go… big little brother… I'm going with you."

And he meant it. The rift had thrown this Mikey into his lap, and he'd be damned if he was going to leave him alone now.

"We're home, Mikey. We made it."

Leo staggered through the turnstiles, all but carrying the barely-conscious Mikey. He was making a valiant effort to stay coherent, but he was losing the battle fast. But they'd made it home, thank god.

Unfortunately, though he was shorter, this Mikey was a lot heavier than his brothers, and Leo's legs weren't about to go another step. He collapsed to his knees, Mikey's weight bearing him to the ground. Leo wrapped his arms around his brother, wincing as the nicks in the battered shell scraped at his arms and stretched the laser burn on his arm. His hand was covered in blood from Mikey's head, though that at least seemed to have stopped bleeding. But he didn't like the look of Mikey's burns one bit, especially the one on his shoulder. That one was particularly bad. And he was still mad about Mikey taking the fire for him. He was the oldest… sort of . That was his job.

Fortunately, he didn't have to do this part alone anymore. "Hang on, Mikey. Almost there. Sorry about this next bit."

Leo drew a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Donnie!"

* * *

Donnie had already had his first aid kit ready, and he made a bolt for the living room. "I'm coming Leo! I'm coming!"

He bolted towards both brothers. He marveled at the size of the other Mikey and grabbed him, carrying him to one couch, and then moving to carry Leo to the other.

"I'm gonna try to work on him first. He's in worse condition. Hope you don't mind, Leo. Was he missing an arm already?"

* * *

Michelangelo winced a little at the yelling, though by now he was far enough out of it that it was mostly an automatic reaction. At the new voice he groggily lifted his head to try and get a look at the newcomer, but all he could make out was an olive-green blur with a purple band. The purple at least was reassuring, even though the voice wasn't anything he'd been expecting.

He resisted the urge to pull back from the newcomer as he was grabbed and dragged, instead doing his best to help out. Which wasn't much - it was little more than him scrabbling his feet slightly against the floor in a mockery of walking.

The words sank in through the haze of his mind as he sank back against the couch, and he managed what he thought was a grin as he mumbled, "Lost an arm and gained an awesome." Hey, it made sense in his own head.

* * *

"The awesomest," Leo said, patting Mikey's shell, before turning a worried gaze to Donnie. "He didn't sound like this when I found him. It's been getting worse since the fight." He moved his hand to Mikey's arm, careful to maintain contact, knowing how something familiar could help when dealing with rift weirdness for the first time.

"I'll live. Treat him first. And yeah, he was missing an arm already. Dealing with an amputation is a bit beyond my skill in the field." Worry made his voice tight, etching itself across his face. He gestured as he talked, and his other hand caught his gaze. Leo grimaced; the blood looked a lot worse in the light of the lair. "Yeah, I'll definitely need to change the wraps on this hand. And then burn the old ones."

* * *

Donnie began at the head, taking off the orange and red-soaked bandanna and tossing it to the floor. He grabbed disinfectant and gauze, and began to clean and dress the head wound. "Mikey? Who's the president of the United States right now?"

He finished up the headwound in a matter of minutes, moving to the wound in his left shoulder. "Damn… he got beaten pretty bad."

* * *

Michelangelo flinched as Donnie began cleaning his head wound, squeezing his eyes shut but instinctively remaining silent. At the question he hummed in his throat for a long moment, trying to think. As much as he wanted to sink into blissful unconsciousness, a deeply-ingrained sense of self-preservation refused to let him succumb while in the presence of strangers. Yes, they seemed to be his brothers, and he found himself trusting them to a certain extent - especially this Leo, whose hand he could still feel resting comfortingly on his arm - … but they still weren't his brothers.

"President… 'sthe Shredder," he mumbled eventually. If he'd been more with it, he'd never have let such a statement slip. As it was, he was distracted by Donnie starting to clean the deep wound on his shoulder - this time, he couldn't quite bite back the hiss of pain. But he remained stoically still - or was possibly just too tired to move any more.

* * *

Leo's breath hitched, and he stared at Donnie in horror. "Donnie… look at him. He's from the future. You don't think…" He trailed off. The physical differences told him that this Mikey's reality was different. He knew that much. So maybe theirs was a different future. But if what he said was true, and not a hallucination…

"No wonder he looks like he's been through hell," he breathed. "He has."

Leo took Mikey's hand in his, maintaining his connection, and used every ounce of the heightened awareness of his brothers that the rift endowed in him to project a sense of calm and safety. "Not here, Mikey. He's not in charge here. So at least for a little while, you can relax. You're safe. And I promise, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

* * *

Donnie shook his head, "It can't be our future. Look at him. He's too different from our Mikey that it can't possibly be us. It's probably a Mikey from a different dimension… I just wonder what caused all of this…"

His tongue was stuck out and held down with his teeth and he went to dress the laser wound. Luckily it was mostly cauterized, but he lost a lot of blood regardless. "Who's the President in 2013, Mikey? Do you know…?"

* * *

"Hell's warmer," Michelangelo mumbled, loosely curling his fingers around Leo's hand. "Prob'ly more fun, too…" He let out a quiet sigh and relaxed further into the couch as Leo projected calm and safety, vaguely aware of what his little big brother was doing but allowing it anyway. At Leo's promise though he cracked one eye open to look over at him. "Don't… don't make prom'ses y'can't, keep, bro." There was a touch of bitterness in his words and expression, but it soon faded as he closed his eye again.

He let Leo and Don's conversation wash over his head, though the sharp little jolts of pain from his shoulder as Donnie cleaned and dressed the wound there kept him from drifting off completely. As he heard Donnie say his name he tried to focus again, though he'd missed the words before it entirely. "Hm? Know wha'?" He blinked muzzily and turned his head towards Donnie, finally getting a clearer view of the purple-banded turtle. "… Don?" He squinted, frowning slightly in confusion - it was getting so hard to think through the haze of exhaustion. "… Y'really here, bro?"

* * *

"I'll keep this one," Leo muttered, his hand tightening around Mikey's. Now that he'd gotten him this far and turned him over to Donnie, that familiar anger was brewing in the recesses of his mind at the thought of anything that could have hurt Mikey. Where were his brothers where he'd come from. How had the other him allowed this to happen?

He rubbed Mikey's shell with his free hand, an absent, habitual gesture, and frowned at Donnie in concern as Mikey's words began to slur. He'd recognized Donnie earlier, Leo thought. He raised a brow at Donnie and mouthed the words, "what's happening?"

* * *

Donnie had moved to clearing up some of the other wounds while Mikey had spoken. "Of course I'm here, Mikey… why wouldn't I be here…?"

He grabbed his first aid kit and pulled a headache reliever out, passing it to the turtle, "Take this, it's going to help your head mellow out." He sighed and continued to disinfect the wounds. "How did all of this happen…?"

* * *

Michelangelo ignored the painkiller - even if he'd noticed it he couldn't accept it since Leonardo had his only hand securely trapped. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Donnie's face, a vague frown creasing his features.

"You left." A surge of emotions bubbled up from somewhere deep inside him and he tried to sit up - he wanted to yell, wanted to cry, wanted to hug Donnie and never let go -

— but this wasn't his Don, this wasn't even his universe, and he was so tired. With nothing left to get a purchase on, the emotions drained away again as quickly as they'd come, taking the last of his energy and willpower with them. Michelangelo slumped back limply, his eyelids fluttering shut despite his best efforts. "Jus'… don't leave, Don," he mumbled thickly. "Don't ever leave…"

The events of the night and blood loss proved too much for him to hold off any longer, and Michelangelo finally, finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

* * *

Leo grunted as Mikey slumped against him and struggled to steady his brother before he slid off the bench and hurt himself even further. He hissed despite himself as the movement stretched the laser burn on his arm, and he found himself pretty firmly trapped beneath his heavier brother.

He shifted just a little as Mikey's head lolled against his shoulder, and he wrapped his uninjured arm around the scarred shell. Very little made sense in all this, but some things were starting to come clear. The surge of emotion that had radiated off Michelangelo as he'd focused on Donnie scared Leo a little. Something bad had happened. Something that involved Donnie.

He met Donnie's gaze and gave him a small smile. "I think we're camping out here for the night."

* * *

Donnie nodded, "I need to treat you before anything else. What's the worst injury you have, Leo?"

He looked at Mikey, a frown crossing onto his face. He left them. He left them and he didn't know why. He wanted answers from Mikey, but he knew that he needed to sleep, so he let the matter rest.

"I'll go get a sleeping bag…"

* * *

"Nothing except for where I got shot in the arm," Leo said, his hold on Mikey tightening just a little. "This idiot decided he was going to take all the fire for me. And I can get off a roof without falling."

Protecting brothers. My job.

* * *

Donnie frowned, "Hold out your arm for me. Is there anything else I need to do? Wasn't your hand all bloody and everything?"

He leaned next to Leo and pulled him into a sideways hug. "You did a great job, Leo."

* * *

Leo obediently lifted the arm, wincing as it pulled the burn, and carefully inched his blood-stained hand out from behind Mikey, careful not to jostle his sleeping brother. Mikey's head shifted on his shoulder, and he began to snore in Leo's ear. Leo sighed wearily. "Yeah, I could use some help cleaning this up, since I seem to be relegated to the role of 'pillow' tonight."

But he smiled as Donnie hugged him. "Thanks, Donnie. It's good to feel like… well, me again. And helping my brothers is what I do best."

* * *

Donnie nodded his head, taking a washrag and washing the blood from Leo's hand. After a quick disinfection and cleaning of the laser wound, Leo's worst wounds were patched up and ready to heal.

"It is what you do best."

* * *

As soon as Donnie finished with his arm, Leo took Mikey's hand again, tucking his other arm back around his sleeping sibling. "I don't know how," he said quietly, "but I'm gonna make this right, Donnie. Or at least… I'm gonna try to patch whatever's broken inside of him. He may not be our Mikey, but it's still him. It feels like him."

Sore and tired, he let his head rest against his grown-up baby brother's. "Future me may have failed to protect him, I'm sure as heck not going to."

* * *

"There has to be a reason he ended up this way, and based on what he just said… it seems like it's my fault. He mentioned something about me leaving…?"

Donnie had started to frown, and he turned suddenly, heading towards his bedroom. He grabbed a sleeping bag from his closet and put it on the floor next to the both of them. "He's my little brother too. And I have to make everything up to him."

* * *

His hands already full of big baby brother, Leo reached out and nudged Donnie with a foot. "So now we know that his dimension's really different. Cause there's no way you'd leave us behind." He smiled at Donnie. "We'll figure this out together." His grin widened. "Maybe you can build him an arm. You've already built a robot; how hard can an arm be?"

* * *

Donnie nodded his head, "I can, easily. But I have to know if he'd want one. It's always his choice." He snuggled into the bag and looked up at him. "His Donnie didn't leave willingly."

* * *

"I know," Leo said quietly, his voice firm with utter conviction. He looked down at Mikey who was starting to drool a little. Leo smiled a little, shaking his head. Grown up and battle scarred or not, he was definitely Mikey. "I think the challenge may be convincing him of that." He nudged Donnie with his foot again, needing that contact with his other brother. "But that can wait for tomorrow."

* * *

Donnie nudged Leo's foot right back at him. He gave a weak smile, before turning solemn once again. "I need to do it somehow. He might hate his Donnie for something that was out of his control."

* * *

Leo looked at the slumbering turtle on his shoulder. "Be hurt by, maybe. Be angry at, maybe. But not hate. I don't think Mikey could ever have hate for one of us." His hand tightened, just a little, on Michelangelo's. "Not even this one." He looked back at Donnie. "We'll get to the bottom of this. But carefully. Whatever happened, he's been hurt, bad. And I don't mean on the outside."

* * *

"We'll start on finding out tomorrow… until then… I think it's time for some rest."

* * *

Leo winced as Mikey let out a particularly emphatic snore. "I think you're right." He leaned his head back on Mikey's. "Night, Donnie."

* * *

"Night, Leo," he whispered, reaching up to take hold of Leo's free hand.


	20. Shards

_Shards is, hands-down, my favourite RP-thread. I love this one so much it hurts. And I made myself cry at the end, which almost never happens when I'm writing. As before, SAINW!Michelangelo is futureorangeturtle, and Leo is me. _

* * *

**Shards**

The Lair was quiet, the lights dimmed to a low, soothing glow. Down in the Pit, two figures were slumped together on one of the couches, fast asleep. The older, time-worn Michelangelo was resting against the Leonardo from the rift, his bandaged head resting on the other's shoulder and his hand still clasped firmly. It was a peaceful little scene - but all was not as serene as it looked.

Michelangelo suddenly twitched, the only outward sign of what was going on in his mind. Nightmares were nothing new for him, and normally he could wake himself up from them with little effort, though it always left him twitchy and grumpy. But the events of the day had left him completely exhausted - his body refused to wake, leaving his mind trapped in nightmare.

It was a city of shadows and flames, stalked by creatures of formless, insubstantial smoke and burning eyes that hunted in packs and struck from the darkness. Buildings outlined by rising sparks grew and towered, only to collapse in a flurry of flying embers and choking smoke that twisted and writhed like dying vines.

Standing in the middle of it all was Michelangelo - and he was completely alone.

* * *

"—and then, I drew _this_, and then Raph got all yelly, but _then_—"

Leo laughed, holding his youngest brother off with a hand on his head. "Slow down, Mikey, okay? Your drawings are awesome, but I can't appreciate them if you keep throwing them at me this fast."

Mikey grinned at him. "Sorry, Leo, I just _miss_ you. When are you coming home?"

Leo's smile faltered. "Miss me? What— Mikey, I'm right—"

Anything else he would have said was ended by the rumbling as the ground lurched beneath his feet. He reached out for Mikey, his first instinct to shield his brother, but Mikey was suddenly so far away, reaching for Leo with a panicked expression on his face. Leo fought to reach him, but the air was somehow thicker, cloying, and as he watched, the lair began to dissolve around them.

It shifted, becoming different, and yet still somehow home, and then the home he knew was gone, taking his baby brother with it. A cry of fury and despair tore from Leo, as the home-that-wasn't-home began to fall apart.

When the dust cleared, he was left in the cold remains of an empty room, crumbling pillars and twisted girders looming over him like silent monuments in a tomb. He fell to his knees, choking. The air _burned_. And as he looked around, wiping his eyes, he realized that his worst fear was once again upon him.

He was in the cold and the dark. Alone.

* * *

Michelangelo prowled silently through the city, nunchucks in hand and every sense alert. He stayed in the shadows, even though they clung to him like tar; it was still safer than emerging into the hellish light of the dancing flames. The shadows were familiar, they were something he could deal with. And he knew in his bones that he was being hunted.

Then something caught his attention and he froze in place; a faint cry echoed through the darkness, one filled with emotions he recognised. He frowned and started moving quickly in that direction, a sense of urgency filling him. That was something new, something unexpected - and something that wasn't meant to be here.

His pace increased, and before he knew it, he was running - still silent, still unseen, but running as fast as he could nonetheless.

* * *

Leo staggered through the murky ruins, coughing, his eyes streaming. The air was cruel; it hurt to breathe. He didn't understand what was happening. He hadn't felt so lost since he'd been broken.

Something tripped him in the dark and he went down hard, his hands scraping on broken concrete. Gasping for breath, he tried to struggle back to his feet — but couldn't. He glanced down, and his eyes widened. The tangled rebar that reached from the ruined walls like demented metal vines had twined around his feet, pinning them together. He attempted to reach for them, to pull the metal apart, but there was more behind him, weaving around his wrists, locking them together behind his back.

Crying out, he fought against the twisted metal, lunging vainly against it as it dug into his skin, when a sound from the darkness caught his attention. Fighting to breathe, he strained to see through the dark, until he could finally make out the shadows against the deeper blackness. Shadows with swords in their hands, and eyes that glowed red in the gloom.

* * *

Ahead was a collapsed building - but this one wasn't made of twisting shadow and sparks. A dark opening ringed with broken rebar like some sort of toothy, gaping maw marked a passage that looked like it would lead into the heart of the ruin. As Michelangelo neared it, another cry echoed up from the tunnel.

Michelangelo dove into the tunnel, barely avoiding the rebar-teeth that tried to snap shut on him as he passed. He landed, rolled, and came up running. The air became thick and choking as he went deeper, and there seemed to be nothing but darkness ahead—

— then he suddenly burst out of the tunnel and into a more open area, where a ring of red-eyed shadows circled something in their midst, like jackals around wounded prey. A sword flashed as it was raised and held in the air for a moment, then fell like a lightning strike.

But it never reached its target, halted mere inches from landing by the chain of Mike's nunchucks wrapped around the blade. An instant later the weapon was yanked away, and as soon as it had been parted from its shadowy wielder it dissipated into mist.

The shadowforms recoiled from the sudden attack, then went to retaliate, but Michelangelo was no longer there. He was already moving again, speeding around the outside of the circle with his nunchucks thrumming through the air, aiming for the eyes and blades. The shadows pursued him, their red eyes flaring with rage and their initial prey momentarily forgotten.

He drew them away, darting and weaving between them, then suddenly sheathed his nunchucks and leapt towards what he could now see was Leonardo, held down by living rebar.

There was a scrape of metal as Michelangelo landed beside him and drew one of Leonardo's katana. Two quick swipes severed the rebar holding Leo down, and the stumps writhed in apparent pain before falling limp. Then Michelangelo was standing defensively between Leo and the angry shadows, the katana held ready. "You okay?"

* * *

Leo thrashed against his bindings as the shadow raised its sword, feeling the jagged metal tearing against his skin, but he couldn't free himself. Couldn't think…

And then, he didn't have to. Vengeance lunged from the darkness, taking down his attacker, and as Leo strained to make out details through his burning eyes, it was more feeling than sight that finally told him who his rescuer was.

"Mikey…?"

He jerked against the metal holding him as Michelangelo yanked a katana off his back — _wait, when did I put those_— and then he collapsed against the ground as Mikey severed the living metal.

He tried to gain his footing, but it was so hard. His eyes were streaming, and his lungs _burned_. But the shadows were still there. He had to get up. He _had_ to. A whimper of frustration slipped out of him as he staggered and went down hard on his knees again.

_Get up… have to… my brother… have to protect…_

"Mikey… can't breathe…" He was gasping now. "Mikey, why does it _hurt_?"

He cringed, hating himself. He was the leader. The protector. Yet his voice echoed around the ruin like that of a lost, frightened child.

* * *

Michelangelo stayed protectively between his little big brother and the lurking shadowforms, his borrowed katana held in a low guard. But the shadows didn't advance; they just started to slowly spread out, moving to circle the pair. They seemed to be waiting for something.

At the gasped, desperate question, he glanced back at Leonardo, struggling to rise from the floor. Only then did he notice how much his throat and lungs burned, and he realised what the shadows were waiting for. "We've gotta get outta here." Leonardo's question went unanswered, because Mike honestly had no answer for him. This was all wrong; this Leonardo wasn't supposed to _be_ here. He had to find a way to get him somewhere safe, get him home.

The shadows were still circling, but they hadn't managed to cut them off entirely from the exit yet. He'd have to move fast - it was a good thing that fast was his speciality. He took a deep breath, ignoring how it burned all the way down, then suddenly launched into action, a blur of movement. The blade of his borrowed katana flashed in the darkness, almost singing through the air as Michelangelo swept through the shadows like a hurricane, each blow aimed for those malevolent red eyes.

The shadowforms closed in on him, radiating hate and fury as their own blades flashed, but he ducked and dodged and twisted fluidly, never quite where they expected him to be. Suddenly he leapt for the wall, hitting it with both feet before propelling himself up and over the shadows' heads.

Michelangelo landed in a crouch next to Leonardo's gasping form, then dropped to one knee. He hadn't escaped entirely unscathed - there were nicks and shallow cuts scattered across his body, but he wasn't going to let anything slow him down. He slammed the katana back home into its sheath, then with a grunt of effort hefted Leonardo up over his shoulder and bolted for the tunnel mouth. By now he was gasping for breath and silently hoping that, despite Leo's additional weight, he'd still be fast enough to get them out before the shadows recovered and closed in again.

It was times like this that he _really_ missed having both arms.

* * *

Leo grunted as he was slung unceremoniously over Mikey's shoulder. For a moment, he started to struggle, but quickly realized how stupid that was. He'd been down there — wherever there was — too long. He couldn't walk. He couldn't even breathe. His vision was starting to grey around the edges, and he latched on to the strap across Mikey's shell, clinging for all he was worth, every step Mikey took jarring his aching head.

The skin around his wrists was a mess. But as he stared at it, Leo couldn't miss the cuts that dotted Mikey's body as well. Damn it. He'd failed. Some leader.

"Sorry," he managed to gasp out. "Couldn't…protect…."

Those were all the words he could get out. Defeated, he sagged against Mikey's shell, staring back into the darkness of the tunnel, watching it as it twisted, and roiled…

Leo's eyes widened as the shadows coalesced, forming into something dark and twisted, a dozen glowing yellow eyes blinking from a creature like a malevolent, tentacled mass of tar.

He couldn't even breathe to call out a warning. Letting go of his hold, he reached one hand to his own belt, drawing out a shuriken and letting it fly with the last of his strength.

It sank deep into one of the creature's eyes, and the thing started screaming. The noise crashed into Leo like a wall of sound, and he let out a cry to echo the creature's as the scream threatened to split his already aching head in two.

* * *

Michelangelo tightened his grip on Leonardo as he squirmed, and didn't loosen it even after he'd stopped fidgeting. "Don't worry 'bout it," he grunted out in reply to the gasped apology, his voice hoarse. His chest burned, his breath rasping in his throat, but he didn't let that slow him down. _I'm getting you out of here, I swear._

Suddenly Leonardo was moving on his back again, and he glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see the shadowy, tentacled creature take a shuriken to the eye. Then the screaming wall of sound hit him and he staggered, desperately trying to catch himself without letting go of Leo. He hit the wall with his left shoulder, rebounded off, and somehow managed to get his feet back under him and keep running.

The scream went on and on, tearing into his head and reverberating through his bones. Shadowy tendrils lashed out towards him, some trying to catch him while others raced ahead, apparently trying to cut him off.

"Ahh, _shell_…" He put on a burst of speed, pushing his already-burning muscles to the limit as he raced for the tunnel mouth. He did his best to shield Leo as much as he could, hurdling over and ducking under the flailing, grasping tentacles. The mouth of the tunnel was almost in reach…

Michelangelo made a last, desperate leap, hurling himself forwards through the tunnel opening and twisting himself around to get beneath Leonardo. He hit the ground on the left side of his shell and skidded along, his arm around Leo's waist as he kept him from hitting the ground. As soon as they'd stopped moving he carefully rolled Leo off and kicked himself up to his feet, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.

Shadowy tentacles lashed out of the tunnel opening, flailing at the air and gripping the sides of the opening. A moment later the yellow-eyed creature began pulling itself out of the tunnel, still screaming. Michelangelo drew his nunchucks and started them spinning as he dropped into a ready crouch, placing himself squarely between the beast and his little big brother. Nothing was getting to his brother, not while he still lived and breathed.

* * *

Leo coughed, trembling, as he tried to get his bearings. His eyes were still raw and streaming, though his lungs no longer felt like they were being raked by claws every time he tried to draw a breath. The air was harsh, and hard to breathe, but no longer actually painful.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he tried to make out what was going on. If only the screaming would stop. His head….

There. Everything was blurry, but there was writhing darkness ahead of him. And then a green shape placed itself stubbornly between Leo and the darkness.

_Dammit!_

Still fighting weakness, dizzy from the lack of air for so long, Leo pushed himself to his knees. Reaching back, he drew a katana, jamming it into the ground and using it to lever himself to his feet. His legs felt like they were made of rubber, but that wasn't about to stop him. He yanked the katana out of the ground and staggered closer to Mikey.

"Not… gonna leave you… alone."

* * *

Michelangelo glanced over as Leo staggered up beside him; at his words, a welter of conflicting emotions surged through him, but he quickly suppressed them again. He just bumped his scarred left shoulder against Leo's right, the contact brief but sincere. "Appreciated, Leo."

He then returned his focus to the shadow beast still squeezing its way out of the tunnel. It had finally stopped screaming, at least for the moment, but its eerie yellow eyes were fixed on the two turtles, radiating hatred and menace. He knew that Leo still needed a little time to recover, and he wasn't going to let anything touch him until he had.

So. Distraction time.

Michelangelo suddenly launched forwards, his spiked nunchucks whirling through the air. At his approach, some of the tentacles that had been focused on pulling the creature forward lashed out towards him instead. He managed to avoid most of the blows; some he fended off with his nunchucks or his feet, but any limb he hit burst into formless smoke before reforming a few moments later.

He kept ducking and weaving, moving unpredictably in and out of the tentacles' apparent range. Bursts of smoke marked his path, but the tentacles kept coming. There were too many for him to dodge and block all of them, and they were all too solid when they managed to land blows of their own.

One tentacle managed to snag him around the leg and lift him high into the air. As much as he twisted around, Michelangelo couldn't land a hit on it — and then the tentacle whipped downwards, slamming him into the ground.

* * *

"Mikey, no!" Leo screamed. He still couldn't see much, but what he had was enough to let him know what had happened. He could barely see the creature at all, but he could see Mikey. Could see enough to know that Mikey was on the ground. Not moving.

He raced toward the thing, the movement more of a drunken stumble than anything as his limbs still hadn't fully recovered, swinging his katana at the appendage that held his brother. The thing moved away, and without Mikey to sight off of, Leo was suddenly blind. He swung wildly, crying out as one of the inky limbs grabbed him. The stuff_hurt_. He swung the katana again and cut himself free, moving out of range.

_Think, Leo. Use your training. This is not the first time you've had to fight blind._

Leo drew a deep breath, only coughing a little in the stale air, and closed his eyes. Slowly, he extended his senses. Waiting. Listening. Sensing the movements around him.

_There._

He lashed out, letting his training take over, and finally his legs were doing what he wanted them to. He spun, lashing out in an intricate dance, weaving his way around the threat as he cut his way through the creature, buying them time, waiting for Mikey to get up. To figure out a way to get away.

Because Leo was now, quite literally, fighting blind. He had no idea where to run.

* * *

For a moment Michelangelo just lay there, stunned and winded and gasping for breath. The tentacle around his leg began dragging him along the ground, preparing to pick him up again for another swing.

Then there was movement nearby, and the harsh grip around his leg was suddenly gone. He blinked rapidly to clear the stars from his eyes, then managed to haul himself to his feet, still winded and aching. Luckily he'd never let go of his nunchucks; he was able to use them to fend off the tentacles that came at him again as he forced his battered body to cooperate.

Another flash of movement caught his eye, and he saw Leo in the middle of his deadly dance, blades flashing in the smoke surrounding him. He took a deep breath, then dove back into the fray, striving to get to his brother's side.

"Leo! We need to go for its eyes!"

* * *

Leo allowed himself a flash of relief at the sound of Mikey's voice. "Great plan," he called back, ducking as he sensed another appendage swinging at his head. "Only one problem — I can't actually see its eyes."

In the darkness of the tunnel, he'd been able to make out the glow of the eyes against the greater shadow. Now, out of the tunnel, all he could see was a black smear, when his eyes stopped burning long enough to let him see at all. He closed them again, finding that he fought better without the distraction of the vision he couldn't trust. "Can't see much of anything, actually. Gonna need your help if you want me to hit a specific target." He could sense Mikey at his side now. He took a step to the right, giving himself room to swing without hitting his brother.

Ground he _knew_ had been solid just a second ago gave way beneath his feet, sinking him up to his knees in thick, sticky mud. He swore, fluently and creatively in Japanese, as he attempted to yank his feet free, but he was stuck fast. Another appendage curled around his arm, attempting to pull his katana out of his hand, but there was no way in hell he was letting that go.

"Have I mentioned—" he said, as he hacked at the appendage with his other sword, "how much—I hate this place?"

* * *

"Not yet, but I can guess!" Michelangelo swore under his breath at the news that Leo couldn't see — a blind Leonardo hit a little too close to home. Still, that was something he knew how to work around; he just hoped that this Leo was as good a shot as his own Leo.

He fended off another wave of the tentacles that were lashing out at him, then glanced back at the Japanese swearing. _Wow, there's a term I haven't heard in a whi— wait, mud? Seriously?!_ This place seemed determined to get rid of Leo in any way possible. It was, in his opinion, getting a little ridiculous.

He leapt towards his brother, nunchucks lashing out at the tentacles trying to grab Leo. They dissipated into more puffs of smoke as the weapon found its targets, and Michelangelo worked hard to keep any more tentacles from getting anywhere near his little big brother.

"On my mark, shuriken spread at one o'clock, head height!" Michelangelo dodged off to one side, drawing the tentacles after him. "_Mark!_"

Three shuriken whipped through the air and found their target, embedding themselves into the cluster of burning yellow eyes. The reaction was immediate; all the tentacles withdrew defensively back to the creature, and another deafening scream ripped through the air. At least now that they were outside of the confines of the tunnel, the noise wasn't quite so concentrated.

The beast began to retreat back down the tunnel, still screaming, but Michelangelo wasn't going to stick around and wait for it to recover. He dashed back to Leo's side, holstering his nunchucks on the way, then grabbed his brother as best he could and pulled. At first the mud didn't budge, but he dug his feet into the ground and hauled even harder. Finally the mud released its grip on Leo's legs with a sickening squelch, and Michelangelo went sprawling backwards, his arm still wrapped around his brother.

* * *

Leo wouldn't have thought it possible, but he actually found himself calming at Mikey's shouted instruction. This was training. This was familiar. This he could do. He sheathed his katana and dug the shuriken out of his belt, releasing them at Mikey's command.

The screaming told him he'd found his mark, and it still threatened to split his aching head open, though it didn't have quite the same brain-melting strength it had had before. An instant later, he felt an arm wrap around him and start pulling. It hurt, but Leo gritted his teeth against it, refusing to make a sound as Mikey dragged him free of his imprisonment.

They fell back, Leo's eyes opening instinctively despite the fact that they still burned and watered enough to render the world an indecipherable smear, but he didn't have to worry. Mikey's arm stayed around him. And despite the fact that he was the big brother, and the leader, he allowed himself a small moment to curl against his older, stronger baby brother and cling to him, letting himself believe for just a minute that Mikey could protect him from this place that seemed to want Leo very, very dead.

"Come on," Mikey said after a moment, taking Leo's arm and pulling him to his feet. "It's not safe here. We need to find someplace…less immediately dangerous."

Leo tried to follow, but the terrain was rough and he still couldn't see, and the second time he stumbled over fallen rubble, a yank on his arm spun him around and the air was driven out of him as he found himself over Mikey's shoulder again. This time, he did struggle, but even though Leo was taller than his big little brother, Michelangelo was stupidly strong.

"This is so unheroic," Leo muttered as he slumped against Mikey's shell.

* * *

"So's tripping over and faceplanting into a building," Michelangelo pointed out dryly, keeping his voice low. "Hold on." He began to run, wanting to put as much distance between them and the shadow-beast as possible.

After a short while though he slowed down as they moved deeper into the shadow-city, his movements cautious and silent. Occasionally he'd pause to listen, crouched low to the ground in the lee of whatever cover was available, before setting out again. Sometimes he'd dash across a road or other open area, the burning light from some nearby blazing ruin briefly casting their own distorted shadows long and eerie across the ground.

He seemed to know exactly where he was going; he never hesitated in choosing his path, weaving his way through the ruined city without faltering. And no matter how Michelangelo moved, his grip around Leonardo never shifted or wavered, anchoring his little big brother securely to his shoulder.

Finally Michelangelo made one last dash across a road and through a gap in a broken wall, and suddenly they were no longer amongst the shadow-buildings. Instead, they were surrounded by bare, withered trees, their barren branches reaching towards the sky like skeletal fingers. The dead grass underfoot was patchy and brittle, but Michelangelo still made no sound as he drifted between the trees.

Soon there was the faint sound of trickling, seeping water, and a few moments later Michelangelo came to a halt and carefully let Leo down off his shoulder, making sure he was steady on his feet before letting go. They were in a tiny clearing amongst the trees, with the remains of a thin, rocky stream running along one side. "We can rest here for a bit," he murmured, his voice a little hoarse. "How're your eyes?"

* * *

Leo grabbed onto Mikey's belt as he began to run, but he didn't actually need to worry about falling off. He'd tested Mikey's grip a couple of times, but Mikey had Leo locked firmly in place; he wasn't going anywhere. Which also meant that Mikey wasn't letting anything take Leo away from him. And as humiliating and embarrassing as it was to be carted around like a sack of laundry, Leo would never, ever, ever admit that he found that last thought…strangely comforting.

Something began nagging at Leo as Mikey carried him through what his bleary eyes could make out as a ruined city. Mikey was good at this. _Too_ good at this. And it was bringing up a lot of questions that Leo wasn't entirely sure he wanted the answers to. But those would keep. As Mikey finally let him down, steadying him as Leo's legs wobbled, his eyes were still his biggest concern.

"Hurt like crazy," Leo answered. He opened them, blinking as they watered. "Whatever made it crazy hard to breathe down there didn't like my eyes much, either. I think it's getting better, though. Breathing's better, anyway. The air still sucks, but at least it's stopped hurting me." He rubbed at his reddened eyes as they continued to stream, and then froze, realizing what the action must have looked like. He fixed the green blob that was Mikey with his best glare and said flatly, "I am _not_ crying."

* * *

"The thought never crossed my mind, bro," Michelangelo reassured Leonardo with a faint grin, his voice tinged with amusement, and he reached out to rub the top of Leo's head. It felt a little odd having to reach _up_ to do it, but he managed. "Yeah, the air sucks up here, but you get used to it. Hold on a sec."

He made his way to the tiny stream, using his teeth to help him rip a section of one of his bandanna tails off. Kneeling on the ground, he rinsed the cloth in the thin stream of water, wringing it out a few times to make sure it was as clean as possible before soaking it and getting back to his feet with a slight huff of effort. His muscles burned from the long exertion, and his back ached from being pounded into the ground, but Michelangelo wasn't going to let any of that slow him down if he could at all help it. He had a brother to protect.

He went back to Leo and nudged his arm with his knuckles to get his attention, the sopping cloth dangling from his fingers. "Here, this should help."

* * *

_But you get used to it._

If Leo had had his suspicions before, Mikey's offhanded comment confirmed them. He took the cloth from his brother, carefully wiping his burning eyes. It helped a little, and as the cool liquid flushed the toxins from them, the skeletal trees around them, and the ruined buildings behind those, began to resolve themselves.

Leo sank to the withered grass, continuing to wipe his eyes. "So you know this place pretty well, then," he said quietly. "Mikey… where _are_ we?"

* * *

Michelangelo followed Leonardo's lead and also sank down to the ground, sitting cross-legged and leaning his elbow against his knee. At the question, he let out a long, quiet sigh and shrugged, hesitating for a brief moment.

He didn't want to admit how well he knew the place. He didn't even want to acknowledge that he'd even been here before, though he knew he couldn't hide that fact, especially not from Leonardo. Leo had always been almost eerily observant. But most of all, he wanted to protect his little big brother from the knowledge of the nightmare that his own reality had become.

"… Wish I could answer that, bro."

* * *

Leo raised a brow. "Because you don't know, or because you don't want _me_ to know?"

Leo wasn't stupid. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on. But he also knew what it was to need to protect a younger sibling from knowing things that could hurt him. He'd done the same to the Mikey he'd fought the ratroaches with, after all, accepting that Mikey's comfort while refusing to tell him about dying in the ice.

So Leo held his tongue, and shifted closer to Michelangelo, until their knees just touched. Even healed, he still found he needed physical contact with his brothers more than usual. Even strange older ones from another dimension.

"I think the worst of it's out," he said, giving his eyes a final swipe. "How do they look?"

* * *

"Because I don't know how," Michelangelo replied simply, with another little shrug. And that was true; he really _didn't_know how to explain where they were, at least not in any way that would make much sense. Not without revealing more than he wanted to.

As Leo's knee came to rest against his, he twitched slightly, more out of surprise than anything else, then hesitantly returned the contact. Once Leo had finished wiping his eyes, he leaned in a little to get a closer look, silently relieved at the topic change. "… Like pepperoni," he replied with a little grin. "But better. Definitely better."

A slight sound on the edge of hearing suddenly caught his attention, and he tensed, whipping his head around to face where the noise had come from. For a moment there was nothing, then he heard it again; a creak, a groan, the scrape of wood against wood. It came again, from a different direction, then another, then every direction at once.

Then the trees themselves seemed to be moving, barren branches clawing against the darkened sky. Michelangelo was immediately back on his feet, nunchucks in hand as he planted himself in a ready crouch by Leo's right side. "Ah,_shell_."

* * *

Leo swore again — he'd really been exercising his Japanese vocabulary today — and staggered to his feet, drawing his katana as he rose. He moved to position his shell against Mikey's, the move ingrained, instinctive. When danger threatens and there's only two of you, you put your brother at your back.

"So any idea what's going on now, or is this another one of those things you don't know how to tell me?" Leo ducked as a branch whipped uncomfortably close to his head. The trees were definitely shifting, pressing closer.

As though that one branch had been a signal, the trees attacked with a sound like a hurricane through a dead forest. Leo lashed out as the twisting branches reached for him, cutting through as much as he could, but though his katana were sharp, some of the limbs were really thick. His left katana lodged in one, and the branch jerked away, taking his katana with it before Leo could yank it out.

He heard a muffled curse behind him, and turned in time to see Mikey fending off one wall of branches, unaware of the pointed spears of wood hurtling toward him from behind. Leo was instantly in the air, bringing his katana down two-handed and severing the limb threatening his brother.

Which was when the roots burst through the ground beneath him, tangling his legs and beginning to draw him down into the earth.

* * *

"This is new!" Michelangelo's voice was tight and edged with frustration. This wasn't something he'd dealt with before - it was new, and unexpected, and he didn't know what to _do_. With the hostile trees crowding in all around them, there was no room for him to take advantage of his speed and agility, nowhere to run - and feeling his brother's shell pressing back against his own, he wouldn't have run anyway, not without Leo.

He whirled his nunchucks with splintering force, smashing through the thinner branches as he defended himself and his brother. But the thicker branches proved impervious to his blows, his weapon bouncing off them ineffectively. He let out a muffled curse, doing his best to fend off the oncoming wall of branches.

Then suddenly the pressure of his brother's shell against his was gone, and he looked back in alarm. Roots were wrapped around Leonardo's legs and striving to catch his arms as well, even as they began to pull the struggling turtle downwards.

"Leo!" Michelangelo spun around to get to Leo's side, but a thick branch lashed towards him; with so many other branches lashing out at him, he had nowhere to dodge, and the branch knocked him away. He crashed to the ground on his back, and more roots burst upwards around him, snaring his limbs and holding him fast. He struggled futilely against them, unable to get any leverage as the roots began to pull him down as well.

"_Leo!_"

* * *

"Mikey!"

Leo's struggles redoubled as the roots began to take his brother down, too. It wasn't _fair_! What the hell did this place have against him, anyway?

He couldn't get the right angle to free his legs. Not without cutting them off in the process. But there was something he could do now that his eyes had cleared. He moved his katana to his left hand — Splinter had taught them to fight with both, but for this, he was still stronger on his right. Digging into his belt, he readied his shuriken and sent them flying toward his brother.

Some severed the roots, sending them writhing and spraying a watery green sap. Others simply lodged in them, weakening them where they entered the ground. One of them thunked into the side of Mikey's shell, and Leo winced._Sorry, bro_. It would have to be enough. He was up to his waist in dirt, now.

"Mikey, _get out of here!_"

* * *

As the severed and wounded roots writhed in apparent pain, the spurting sap burning his skin, their grip loosened and Michelangelo finally managed to tear himself free. He was immediately back on his feet and fighting through the branches again, determined to get back to Leo.

"Not without you!" he yelled back. "I'm not failing _again_!"

A glint overhead caught his eye, and he spotted the katana lodged in a branch. He swiftly hooked his nunchuck back into his belt and leapt for the branch, catching hold of it with his hand before twisting around to wrap his legs over it, hanging upside down. As the branch flailed around, trying to shake him off, he grabbed the hilt of the katana and managed to yank it out of the wood.

Then more branches were lashing towards him, and before he could let go, another thick branch had pinned his legs against the one he was hanging off, the rough bark ripping into his skin. He bit back a snarl of pain and tried to free himself, but to no avail. Both branches were too thick for him to break or cut, and more were moving in to pin him in place.

So he looked back down at Leo, aiming carefully, then hurled the katana down like a thunderbolt. It cut through some of the roots around Leo with a spray of sap and embedded point-first in the ground by Leo's right side.

* * *

Leo let out a yelp as the sap from the severed roots seared his skin, and grabbed onto his second katana, using it as an anchor to help himself haul free of the soil as he hacked at the limbs still imprisoning him.

"_Dammit_ Mikey!" He dragged his foot free of the ground. "Why—are you—so _stubborn_?"

He cried out as branches raked along his arm, breaking the skin, but he was finally free. He tumbled forward, turning the move into a roll and launching himself as soon as his feet were underneath him again. He ricocheted off the trunk of the nearest tree, tucking the leap and spinning to avoid more of the branches, kicking off the grasping limbs until he was above Michelangelo. Turning, he propelled himself downward, speeding toward his brother like a stooping hawk.

Sheathing one katana as he fell, he grasped the remaining one in both hands, and as he reached Mikey, brought his full weight to bear on the limbs imprisoning his brother. He severed one and cut most of the way through the other, grabbing Michelangelo's ankle on his way down and using his weight to pull him the rest of the way free. They fell together, hitting the ground in a spray of branches and twigs. Leo was back on his feet in an instant, dragging Mikey up by the strap over his shoulder. He planted a hand on Michelangelo's shell and shoved him toward a break in the trees. "Go!" he screamed, and spun, bringing his katata to bear to cover their retreat.

* * *

"Same reason _you_ are!"

Then Michelangelo was crashing downwards through the branches with Leonardo in a shower of twigs and bark. He managed to twist around just enough to avoid landing on his head, instead hitting the ground with his left shoulder._Good thing I don't really need that one…_ A moment later he was being hauled to his feet, then shoved towards a gap in the trees.

He staggered forwards, then nearly fell again as pain exploded in his left leg from where the branches had pinned it, tearing the skin and mangling the flesh. It was only through sheer force of will that he managed to stay on his feet.

Gritting his teeth, he fended off the lashing branches with his nunchucks and kept moving forwards as fast as he could, though every step sent bolts of pain shooting up his leg. He could hear Leonardo following behind him; the sounds of katana smashing through brittle wood and the occasional Japanese curse.

Somehow, they managed to reach the break in the trees - and that's when more roots burst up out of the ground without warning, even as branches lashed down from above. Michelangelo instinctively tried to dodge out of the way, but his leg collapsed beneath him, pitching him sideways against a tree trunk.

Before he could recover the roots had lashed around him, tangling his limbs and pinning him against the trunk. One root wrapped around his throat and began to squeeze, cutting off his breath as he struggled in vain, blood oozing from the multitude of cuts and scrapes.

* * *

Something was wrong. Leo had been listening with half an ear to the sounds of battle behind him, their rhythms familiar as a lullaby. But when they ceased, he gave up the covering of their retreat and spun, his eyes widening in horror as he saw what the trees were doing to Mikey.

_Oh no. No. NOT while I'm still standing._

He had no room left for words. His gaze glazing over as he let the ninja in him take control, he ran for Michelangelo. The trees attempted to stop his flight, branches and roots lashing out toward him, but he was having none of them. Those that he didn't go over, under, or around fell beneath his katana.

Nothing was going to stop him from getting to his brother.

He slammed into the tree where Mikey was pinned, his katana driving through the roots that held him. Sheathing one katana, he grabbed the limb that was choking his brother, this one thicker than the others, and he screamed as he dragged it free.

"Mikey, you still with me?" Leo reached for him, cursing as a root tangled around his wrist, yanking it downward. "Mikey, please, answer me!"

* * *

Michelangelo couldn't breathe, could barely move against the cruelly tight roots pinning him to the tree trunk, and spots began to dance in front of his vision as he struggled for air.

Then suddenly some of the roots pinning him down were cut loose, and the one around his throat pulled away enough for him to draw a gasping, shuddering breath. He couldn't answer Leo; he was too busy trying to get air through his abused throat and back into his oxygen-starved lungs.

As his lungs painfully refilled and his vision cleared, something — instinct, a glimpse of movement, an out of place sound — caught his attention. One tree, bigger and more solid than the rest, seemed to be getting larger—

— then he realised it wasn't getting larger, it was _falling_, falling with maliciously deliberate intent — and aiming straight for Leonardo, still busy fighting off the roots and branches that sought to entangle them both again.

Thoughts raced like lightning through Michelangelo's mind, and time seemed to slow down as the tree trunk descended towards his brother.

_This is __**my**__ reality, not his, he shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be suffering like this, this isn't right, I have to get him out of here, I won't let him be hurt any more, I have to protect him, I __**won't**__ give up again!_

_This is __**not your nightmare!**_

With a hoarse, wordless cry, Michelangelo ripped himself free of the remaining roots, his skin tearing. He hurled himself at Leonardo and shoved him out of the way with all his strength, before his leg collapsed beneath him and he fell to one knee.

Then the tree crashed down with thunderous force, branches flying everywhere, and Michelangelo disappeared from sight beneath it.

* * *

Leo was taken utterly by surprise when Mikey tore free of his bonds and threw himself at Leo, sending him flying with the force of the blow. He hit the ground rolling, instantly back on his feet — and froze, staring at the twisted remains of the tree that writhed and dug into the ground even as Leo watched.

"No…" Leo whispered, his hand outstretched toward the nest of branches that lay where his brother had been. "Mikey?"

A sob caught in his throat, and he threw himself at the branches, hacking violently at them. But even as they cleared, there was no sign of green beneath them. Just the dead, withered grass. Wordless cries of desperation tore from him as he continued to flail at the branches, frantic to find any sign of Mikey, but there was nothing.

He was so focused on reaching his fallen brother, he didn't even notice when the trees closed in around him. Only when the light left, as the branches overhead blocked out the sun, did he notice what was happening. His arm drifted downward, slack, as roots twined around his legs and branches cracked and folded around his arms, pinning them into place.

And had there been anyone around to see him before the trees obliterated him from sight completely, they would have seen that there was no trace of Leo left in his eyes.

Then there was nothing but silence in the shattered, ruined landscape. Silence, and a dead mountain of trees.

….

…

…

And then, a sound began to grow beneath the silence. A scream of pure, unadulterated rage, torn raw from a throat too young and too innocent to have to bear that kind of emotion. The sound grew, swelling from beneath the pile of twisted limbs, until the entire thing shuddered from the force of it.

Leo had learned long ago to avoid anger. That was Raph's domain. When Raph got angry, people got beaten and family got saved.

When Leo got angry… people died.

He had spent years learning to dam the well of cold anger that lay deep beneath his surface. To keep it locked away, hidden, until even his brothers forgot that it was there.

But now, every check, every block, every defence he had was gone, ripped away by the force of his scream.

_This world… it's a nightmare. It took my brother. But now, it will have a reason to fear _me_. When it dreams of horrors in the dark, it will be me this world dreams of._

The anger flowed forth from him in waves, and as he screamed, he became aware of shapes in the darkness. A glow, burning hot and furious, spread over his skin, running in cold fire over his limbs, his rage made manifest. Still screaming, he drew his katana across his chest, tensed for one perfect moment, and released his anguish into the strike.

His katana cleaved through the branches like shears through gossamer. He rose to his full height, and kept rising. The glowing blue fire rolled over him, his katana now burning with the cold flames, and yet the fire continued to grow, lifting him from the ground, spreading away from him in a haze of grief and fury. The nebulous shape surrounding him shifted and changed, one moment a turtle, the next a man standing tall and proud, until finally it grew into a shape resembling a winged dragon, fangs bared and claws ready to strike.

Then the light drew into Leo with the quickness of a breath, concentrating around him until he burned like a star in the dark.

And with a final scream, the fire was unleashed, roiling like a tsunami across the landscape and leaving destruction in its wake.

And when the fire cleared, Leo was standing alone in a field of desolation, nothing around as far as the eye could see but himself and his fallen katana.

And his brother lying on the ground at his feet.

He reached down, the fire still in his eyes, and grasped Michelangelo's wrist. And the last of the fire poured into the broken shape of his brother, and made his wounds whole.

The last of the fire spent, Leo dropped Michelangelo's wrist. He took two staggering steps back before he collapsed, boneless, to the ground.

* * *

Michelangelo wasn't sure what had happened; there'd been a crushing impact, and pain, and darkness, and the feeling of drowning in shadow — then a scream like nothing he'd ever heard before, and a tidal wave of pure, blue-white fire crashing over him, washing away the pain and the shadows and filling him with light—

— then he blinked, and found himself lying on the ground, feeling better than he had in years. He quickly got to his feet and looked around, uncertain and wary. He spotted the fallen katana, then let out a wordless sound of alarm as he saw the crumpled, motionless form of Leonardo lying nearby.

"_Leo!_" A moment later he was kneeling by Leo's side, gathering his limp brother up and cradling him against his chest. "Leo, can you hear me?" _Please be all right, please…_ He tried to find any signs of life; breathing, movement, the flicker of an eyelid, _anything_. "C'mon, bro…"

But if there were any signs of life, Michelangelo wasn't seeing them. He pressed his forehead gently against Leonardo's, his eyes squeezed shut as the old, familiar guilt and the bitter taste of failure rushed through him. "Leo… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm _so_ sorry…."

* * *

_Cold. And darkness. And the sound of his brother's voice…_

_…a touch. Frightened. Warm._

_something to follow…_

Step by agonizing step, Leo dragged himself back from the dark. He became aware first of the arm around him, sheltering him in strength and love. Then it was the touch against his brow, so familiar from the countless times he'd done it with his brothers.

Leo's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring at Michelangelo, his brother's eyes squeezed closed as he repeated something over and over. Sharp words. Cutting words. Leo frowned. He didn't like that.

His left arm was pinned against Michelangelo, but his right was free, and his hand drifted up to cradle the back of Mikey's head. A gesture of longstanding comfort in his family.

"It's okay, _shin-niichan_," he said, his voice ragged and cracked as old leaves. "I found you."

* * *

"… Leo?!" Michelangelo's eyes flew open as he felt the hand cradling the back of his head and heard the ragged words, and he barely managed to keep from jerking away in surprise. Instead, he leaned back carefully to get a better look at his brother while still letting that comforting hand rest against his head.

"_Shell_, Leo…" His voice was tight and rough, and he swallowed before suddenly pulling Leo into as tight a hug as he could manage with one arm, burying his face against his _moto-niisan_'s shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

* * *

Leo freed his trapped arm so that he could wrap it around Mikey too, putting all the comfort and support he could into the hug. "What for?" He let one hand trace circles on Mikey's shell, as he had done so many times for his baby brother as he clung to Leo, begging him to chase away a nightmare in the dark. "You saved me. I would have been under that tree if not for you."

* * *

"You wouldn't even _be_ here getting hurt in the first place if it wasn't for me," Michelangelo muttered into Leo's shoulder. He stayed there for a moment, then finally let out a little sigh. He pulled back enough to look at Leo, but not enough to break the hug. "Speaking of the tree though… what _happened_ after that?"

* * *

Leo frowned. "You can't know that," he said. "Maybe I'd have ended up here anyway, but without you to help me. The rift's done weirder since I fell through it." He tightened his arms at Mikey's second question, afraid that his brother would pull away when he heard the answer. "…I got mad," he whispered after a moment. He looked around at the desolation surrounding them. "I think I broke the world." He smiled a little. "Fixed you, though. Got kinda sleepy after that."

* * *

"Heh. Remind me not to get you mad at me." Michelangelo didn't pull away, though a shadow briefly flickered across his face, and he glanced around to try and hide it before looking back at Leonardo with a wry grin. "Well bro, you definitely left your mark. I can see why you'd get sleepy after something like that." He shifted a little to get more comfortable. "I think we can afford to rest a bit - you've earned it."

* * *

Leo sighed, shifting a little, that tiny change in positioning switching him from comforter to comforted. He rested his head against Michelangelo's shoulder. "Good. I'm really tired, Mikey."

* * *

"You and me both, bro," Michelangelo replied wryly. Despite all his injuries being healed by… _whatever_ Leonardo had done, his muscles still ached with fatigue. So even though being out in the open made the back of his neck crawl, he was content to just sit there for now, not moving, with his brother cradled trustingly against his chest and using his shoulder as a pillow. But as they sat in comfortable silence, Michelangelo's mind was still churning.

_Don't get used to it. Don't let yourself get too close. You know it won't last. It __**can't**__ last. This isn't even __**your **__Leonardo._

Michelangelo quickly steered his mind away from thoughts of his own brothers, and distracted himself by carefully scanning their surroundings. He couldn't remember if he'd ever been this exposed, sitting out in the middle of empty, barren ground with no cover in sight. At least the clear area meant that he'd see anything coming anywhere near them well before it got within range - it helped to keep the instinct to get under cover, to remain unseen, from screaming at him too loudly.

Because Leo needed rest, and he was determined to give him as much of it as possible. So he remained alert, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of movement that might threaten his little big brother.

_This may not be __**my**__ Leo — but it doesn't matter. I'm not going to fail this one. Not if I can help it._

* * *

Leo cuddled into Mikey, trying to sort through the confusing welter of emotions washing over him. Whether it was rift-sense or the connection he'd made when he did whatever he'd done to fix Mikey — his memory was still a little vague on exactly what that was — he could feel the war of emotions within his big little brother. He was so guarded. He'd been hurt really badly, and his brothers were involved somehow. He could feel trust battling with distance, and did the only thing he could.

He latched on tighter, burying his head against his brother as though clinging like a limpet could somehow show him that Leo wasn't planning on going anywhere, and projected all the love and trust that he could. This Mikey may be strange, and they may have only known each other for one night, but as far as Leo was concerned, after the events of this night, Michelangelo was as much his brother as the Donatello who wore the blue mask around his neck.

Then, slowly, something began to intrude. A feeling deep within him, familiar somehow. A soft tremor ran through the ground, as though the world itself had shifted in sympathy.

Leo opened his eyes. "…something's coming."

* * *

Michelangelo felt the tremor in the ground at the same time as Leonardo, and he was immediately up on his feet, his arm still wrapped tightly around his limpet-imitating brother. "Hold on…"

Then, for the first time since finding his brother in this nightmare world, Michelangelo hesitated. He didn't know where to go; there was no cover anywhere nearby, nowhere to hide. He couldn't tell which direction the threat was coming from, or which way he could go to get away from it. The growing tremor seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and the sky darkened with swiftly-gathering clouds. Only one thing was certain; he _had_ to protect his little big brother.

Suddenly the ground underfoot _exploded_ upwards in a massive blast of dirt and rock and thick, black tentacles, sending them flying high into the air. The explosion was accompanied by a mind-shattering scream, vibrating with rage and hate, and a cluster of malevolent yellow eyes glared up through the broken ground.

His head threatening to burst from the scream, Michelangelo instinctively curled himself protectively around his brother as they fell, the air thick with debris and thrashing tentacles. A thick shadow tentacle smashed into them from the side, hurling them away from the centre of the shadow mass. Michelangelo's arm went numb from the blow, and then the ground was rushing up to meet them.

They hit the ground rolling; despite their best efforts, the brothers lost their hold and were separated somewhere along the way, losing track of each other in the storm of dust and debris and flailing shadow-limbs.

Then, as he finally tumbled to a halt, Leonardo heard another scream, a ragged, hoarse one choked with agony and quickly cut off — and it _hadn't_ come from the shadow beast.

* * *

Leo clung to Michelangelo as the world exploded around them. He'd lost his brother once. He was _not_ losing him again. But though he held on with all he was worth, they were both weary, and as they hit the ground, despite the fact that Mikey was curled protectively around him, Leo found himself torn away as he fell.

He lay there, choking on the dust, when he heard the scream. Instantly, he was on his feet, running blind through the dust-clouded air toward it. That thing was not taking Mikey. No way. No how.

His lungs were burning again, clogged by the thick dust in the air, but as it began to settle, he could make out the monstrous shape of the shadow-beast, and the motionless form on the ground ahead. As Leo raced toward them, he cried out in horror. The thing had impaled Mikey through both legs. His gift, Mikey's blessing, and the creature had taken it from him. As Leo watched, more ink-dark appendages wrapped around his brother, and began dragging him toward the beast. The creature's body split, revealing a gaping maw lined with rows upon rows of razor teeth.

Leo screamed to rival the cries of the creature and lunged, his hand latching onto Mikey's wrist. He dug in his feet, but the creature was too strong, and he was pulled to the ground, trailing helplessly after them.

Desperately, Leo cast around for something, anything, to use against the creature, but the landscape was utterly barren, scoured clean by his rage, which was still exhausted.

Then, up ahead, something appeared from the settling dust. Something beloved and familiar. As they were dragged past it, Leo reached out with one hand and snagged the katana lying on the ground. With a cry of defiance, he jammed it to the hilt into the ground, and hung on tight as he and Michelangelo were drawn up short.

The creature screamed, yanking on Mikey, but Leo was not going to relinquish his hold on either the katana anchoring them in place, or on Mikey's wrist.

The thing would have to tear his arms off first.

* * *

Michelangelo could barely breathe through the agony crashing over him from his impaled legs - it was even worse than that time, long ago, when he'd had both legs broken in one of their fights against the Shredder. His arm was still numb and mostly unresponsive, and he scrabbled uselessly at the ground as the shadow-beast began dragging him towards its gaping, tooth-filled maw. Despair began to fill him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back the emotion and the pain.

Suddenly there was a firm grasp around his wrist, a familiar three-fingered grip, and he felt his arm being pulled back as Leonardo tried to resist the drag of the tentacles. At first they were both dragged along, then somehow Leonardo managed to anchor himself — from his position on his back, he couldn't see how — and Michelangelo jerked to a halt. He let out a breathless gasp of pain as the tentacles kept pulling against the resistance, agony flaring up his legs as the shadow limbs tightened their grip and began working their way further up his body.

_Now I know how the rope in a tug-o-war feels…_

He bit back another cry of pain as the pressure increased — he felt like his arm was going to come out of its socket, and his shell was beginning to creak from the pressure of the tentacles tightening around it. If it weren't for his shell, he was pretty sure he would've already had all the air crushed out of him.

Then one of the tentacles wrapping around him pressed into the shuriken that was still embedded in the side of his shell. The whole mess of limbs flinched slightly before tightening again - but it was enough for him to twist himself around so he could look back at Leonardo. His jaw clenching in grim determination, he finally managed to force his numb fingers to work, and grabbed tightly onto his brother's forearm.

_I'm __**not**__ giving up. Not __**this**__ time._

* * *

Leo felt Mikey's hand close around his arm, and looked down at him. Their gazes locked, and exchanged the words that would never be heard above the screaming of the creature.

_I'm here. I'm with you. To the end. My brother._

The merciless limbs of the creature continued their attempt to prise Michelangelo free of him, but there was no way, now. He was never letting go, and neither was Mikey. The writhing tentacles strained toward them, wrapping around Leo now too, attempting to pull him free of the katana while squeezing the life from his body.

And still, Leo refused to let go.

The creature howled, a sound that knifed straight through his brain, drawing screams from Mikey and Leo as well. And then, beneath all that pain, and the agony in his limbs as his joints began to separate, he felt it again. That same nagging familiarity. That same shiver of sympathy from the ground.

_But… that's impossible. The creature is already here…_

Then, above the shrieking of the nightmare made flesh and the cries of the helpless brothers before it, another sound ripped through the air, causing all the others to fall silent beneath it.

_**"BOOYAKASHAAAAAA!"**_

Silver streaked across his field of vision, and Leo stared agape as a green blur plummeted from above. The kusarigama raked through the limbs holding Leonardo and Michelangelo like they were no more that shadow, and they dissolved instantly into mist.

And then Mikey was there. Mikey stood above him, feet planted on either side of Leo, with a glare of defiance on his face. "Quit hurting my brother!"

The shadow-creature screamed at him and Mikey screamed back, jamming the kusarigama back into his belt and raising his hands, his fingers crooked into claws. "Will you just _shut up?_"

In answer, the earth rose up on either side of the creature, two massive, three-fingered hands of solid rock spreading out on either side of it. Mikey slammed his hands together, and the screaming of the creature was instantly silenced. The only sound that remained was the soft pattering of the dark liquid that dripped from between the interlocked earthen hands.

Leo stared up at his baby brother, still not quite able to believe what he was seeing. Mikey, however, was not quite so paralyzed. He turned on Leo, jabbing an accusatory finger toward him. "_You_ are _really_ hard to find!"

"Mikey…" Leo breathed. He looked dumbly at the remains of the shadow-creature between the earthen fists. "Wha…how…"

"Please," he said, exasperated. "You think I don't know what the inside of my own head feels like? I spend enough time here."

Mikey turned, storming over to the fallen Michelangelo, and reached down, pulling him to his feet. Leo tried to call out a warning, but it was suddenly unnecessary. The horrible wounds the creature had inflicted on his big little brother were gone.

The younger Mikey gave his older, alternate self a once-over. "You _really_ don't like letting other people in, do you?" He snorted. "That's stupid, though. Leo's good. You can trust him." Without another word, he wrapped his arms around the older Michelangelo. "Take care of my big brother, Badass Old Me. He'll do stupid stuff if he thinks he's protecting you, and I'd really like him back in one piece."

By this time, Leo had managed to struggle into a sitting position, which was when Mikey let go of his older self, turned on Leo, and barrelled into him like a speeding freight train. Leo would have gone over backward were it not for Mikey's arms wrapped around his neck and his legs wrapped around Leo's waist, and as Mikey touched him, he was swamped by that acknowledgement of familiarity from his rift-sense. Fine-tuned as it was to sensing the minute variations between his alternate brothers, it screamed the undeniable truth at him.

This was Mikey. _His_ Mikey.

A pained, strangled sound was wrenched from Leo, and he threw his arms around his baby brother.

"Oh, I'm so glad you finally know what's going on!" Mikey said as he rested his chin on Leo's shoulder. "It gets so_frustrating_ to talk to you when you don't even know that you're missing!"

"Mikey? It's really you?"

His little brother drew back, resting his forehead against Leo's. "I don't have a lot of time, okay? But I need you to know we're almost there. Time's funny here, and I'm pretty sure you've been gone a lot longer than you've been missing on our side, but Donnie's really close, I swear. He's testing the machine right now, but you've _gotta_ hang on until we get there." He looked up. "Please, Leo."

Leo drew a shuddering breath. "I promise."

"Ninja promise?"

Despite himself, Leo smiled. "Ninja promise." He leaned forward and squeezed his brother with all the strength left in him. "I will never stop fighting until you guys bring me home."

"I know," Mikey said into Leo's chest. "That's what makes you my _niichan_." But something was wrong. Leo looked down at Mikey, and gasped. Mikey was fading. "I miss you so much, Leo. I love you, okay?"

"Love you too, _otouto_," Leo whispered. And his arms closed on nothing. Mikey was gone.

And Leo finally allowed himself to do what he hadn't done since that night his mind had shattered. He covered his face with his hands and quietly began to cry.

* * *

Michelangelo was left standing there, blinking in bemusement as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. He'd been released from the shadow's grasp, healed (again), scolded, hugged (by a different version of himself, which felt REALLY weird), instructed to look after Leo (which he was doing _anyway_), released, and then left standing there while his mind struggled to catch up with the sudden chain of events.

As the other version of himself barrelled into Leo, Michelangelo looked away, suddenly feeling awkward, and distracted himself by studying the massive rock hands that still dripped liquid shadow. _I really need to figure out how to do that…_

He tried not to pay too much attention to the conversation going on behind him - it felt like a family thing, and even though they were his brothers, they still weren't _his_ brothers. Still, he couldn't help overhearing most of it.

Then there was silence, and Michelangelo glanced back just in time to see Leonardo cover his face, shoulders heaving.

_Take care of my big brother…_

Michelangelo was immediately moving, dropping to his knees by Leonardo's side and pulling him into a comforting hug, his one arm around the other turtle's shoulders and his hand rubbing soothing circles on Leonardo's shell. "It'll be all right… I'm here for you."

The other Mikey had been right — Michelangelo had a hard time letting anyone in now, and still didn't know if he'd ever be able to again. But this one thing, he _could_ do. He could look after this Leo, and make sure he got back to his own family in one piece. So he knelt there, holding Leonardo close and giving as much comfort and reassurance and support as he possibly could.

* * *

For those first few moments, Leo hadn't felt so alone since he'd first fallen through the rift. But then, an arm came around him, a hand tracing circles on his shell. A gesture only his brothers ever used.

He turned into the other Michelangelo, his whispered words washing like a balm over Leo's ragged emotions, and he latched onto his older younger sibling, trembling in shock.

He didn't care that he was from an alternate reality. He didn't care that he was older. He didn't care that he hid behind walls and refused to let Leo in. He was a brother. He had almost died protecting Leo. As Leo had almost died protecting him. And right now, that was more than enough.

"I love you too, _shin-niisan_."

* * *

Michelangelo held his trembling brother close, his hand never stopping its soothing circles against Leo's shell. So much had happened in such a short time; he was a little in shock himself, still trying to digest it all. But that could wait; Leo needed him now.

At Leo's words, he dug through his memory, looking for the right words to reply with, from a language he'd long stopped using. Finally he found the words he was after, and he gently rubbed his cheek against his little big brother's head.

"… Appreciated, _moto-niisan_." And he hoped that those little words would be enough; that Leonardo would understand the meaning behind them that he couldn't bring himself to outright say.


End file.
